Interactions of Plural Regulatory Forces within the Workplace: Two Case Studies of Labour Retirement Pay

多元管制力量在工作場作中的互動:兩個勞工退休金的案例

本文特別關注年長工作者所感受之經濟上的不安全感,而此種經濟的不安全感乃是受到台灣工作場所中不同管制力量的影響。首先,本文簡略地勾勒出勞動法的實體規範,尤其著重退休金、工作場域的權力關係以及其與企業文化的互動。其次則藉由討論兩件有關勞工退休金的案例,檢驗法院對多元管制力量在工作場所運作的觀點。本文認為2004年勞工退休法及修正後的勞動基準法確實提供了年長勞動者享有退休金的權利,並進一步改善工作年資的可攜帶性。然而,勞動法的權威性已被台灣特有的企業文化所侵蝕,此種企業文化亦因職場關係中的權力階級所強化。本文建議改變工作者利益的勞動法不應僅侷限於實體法的領域,更應將工作場域中的其他管制力量,包括權力關係與企業文化,納入法律實務者的訓練與台灣勞動法的教學之中。

This article pays particular attention to the economic insecurity experienced by aged workers through the interactions of regulatory forces within the social field of the workplace in Taiwan. Firstly, the interactions of positive labour law in retirement pay, power relations in the workplace and corporate culture in Taiwan are first outlined. By considering two case studies of labour retirement pay, the courts' perspectives on plural regulatory forces operating in the workplace are reviewed. This article argues that the Labour Pension Act of 2004 and the amended Labour Standards Law have, indeed, provided aged workers with the right to retirement pay and have furthermore enhanced the portability of contribution records. However, the authority of positive labour law has been eroded by the power hierarchies in employment relationships that are reinforced by the patriarchal corporate culture in Taiwan. This article suggests that efforts towards changing the labour law in the interests of workers should not be restricted to the realm of positive law. Rather, it is necessary to incorporate other regulatory forces present within the workplace, including power relations and corporate culture, into the training for legal practitioners and the teaching of labour law in Taiwan.