Workplace reviews and discussion: 艾訊股份有限公司

Job security until retirement, with decent benefits. You won’t become rich, but you won’t go hungry.

There is a cherry blossom trail outside the office, and plenty of rainwater, so you won’t have to worry about thirst.

Don’t come to the Operations Center. Its subordinate units include the factory, QA, Document Control Center, and After-Sales Service. Once you’re here, you’ll feel uncomfortable all over because after the vice president from the Golden Factory took over, the focus has been on militarized management and “discipline.” Simply put, specialists and engineers are managed like production-line operators.

It’s understandable that discipline is important, but violating the Labor Standards Act by restricting employees’ annual leave is not acceptable. Company regulations state that one hour is the minimum unit, and in emergencies you can notify your supervisor first and submit the leave form later. Yet they insist that four hours be the minimum unit, and you cannot take annual leave for sudden emergencies—you can only take personal leave. Even if you submit the form according to company regulations, it will still be rejected because it does not comply with the vice president’s decree. Why should you be unable to use your annual leave and have to take unpaid personal leave instead? Is making four hours the minimum unit intended to maliciously consume employees’ annual leave?

The Labor Standards Act stipulates that, provided work is not affected, an employer may not prevent an employee from taking annual leave. But in the units under the Operations Center, leave requests will indeed be blocked. Have any of you ever seen this kind of management style?

If you want to work overtime, you can. You may exchange it for compensatory leave or receive overtime pay, but you can only apply for two or four hours. Compensatory leave can also only be taken in units of at least two hours.

I really don’t understand what these leave rules have to do with discipline. The key point is that they are also illegal.

So why do I say that working under the Operations Center makes you feel uncomfortable all over? Because every form you submit will be reviewed by the little secretary—leave requests, official trips, material requisitions, expense claims, and so on. The little secretary will record everything and report it to the vice president. If the little secretary has any questions about your forms, your supervisor will be harassed endlessly. If people from headquarters are stationed at the factory, your every move will be monitored. Even when you go to the restroom, people at headquarters will know.

Having a proxy system for leave is perfectly reasonable. I believe every company has such a system. But in all the companies I’ve worked for, I have never seen employees taking leave required to photocopy their assigned tasks, have the proxy sign them, have the supervisor sign them, and then file the hard copies. What era is this? In short, it shows a lack of trust in employees.

Before long, they may even start controlling what time you drink water, how many times you use the restroom each day, and how many times you smoke. Because we’re production-line operators!!!