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Case Summary
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Investigation into the inaction of competent authorities in charge of labor to properly implement the “exclusive account of employment fund for the disabled,” affecting the rights and benefits of disabled citizens (Case No. 0890706288) |
| Summary |
As mandated in Article 31 of the “Physically and Mentally Disabled Citizens Protection Act,” a government department, public school, or public business institution whose total number of employees is not less than 50 shall employ the disabled having the capability to work, and the number of the employed disabled employees shall be not less than 2 percent of the total number of the employees. A private school, association, or private business institution whose total number of employees is not less than 100 shall employ the disabled having the capability to work, and the number of the employed disabled employees shall be not less than 1 percent of the total number of the employees. If the above-mentioned department (institution) does not employ a sufficient number of the disabled, it shall periodically pay the difference in subsidies to an exclusive account for employment fund established for the disabled by the municipal or county (city) competent authority in charge of labor. According to Article 36 of the same Act, the municipal and county (city) competent authority in charge of labor shall open the exclusive account for employment fund for the disabled to deposit the subsidies received and, in addition to subsidizing the departments (institutions) employing the disabled, shall use this fund to improve the employment rights and interests of the disabled. The municipal or county (city) competent authority in charge of labor shall prescribe regulations on the incomes & expenditures, safekeeping, and utilization of the exclusive account.
According to statistics provided by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), the total number of physically and mentally disabled individuals in all cities and counties is 711, 064. As of the end of December 2000, the total amount in the exclusive account for employment fund for the disabled is NT$11.6 billion; the amount of differential subsidies owed is about NT$294 million. Because the issues of whether the accounting, safekeeping, and utilization of these accounts by local governments met the legal requirements and whether the funds were spent for the right purposes directly affected the interests and benefits of the disabled, thus, the Control Yuan initiated an investigation.
The investigation found many inadequacies. Some government departments (institutions) which had not used sufficient number of physically and mentally disabled individuals did not pay the differential subsidies to the “exclusive account for employment fund for the disabled” established by the labor agency of the local governments; some local governments, on the other hand, did not push departments (institutions) to pay up. Other local governments utilized the funds for purposes other than promoting the interests of the physically and mentally disabled, signifying that their internal organization lacks control over the special accounts. Some local governments, after using the funds to subsidize private institutions in implementing employment promotion programs, did not follow up and evaluate their performance to ascertain whether there were any imbalances in the subsidy resource allocation or whether it had actually met realistic needs. Besides, the agencies concerned in the central government should be held accountable for their lax supervision. The Council for Labor Affairs (CLA) did not actively supervise the local governments in prescribing the regulations on incomes & expenditures, safekeeping and utilization of the exclusive account. The MOI did not enact the Enforcement Rules for the Physically and Mentally Disabled Citizens Protection Act, causing serious delays in the labor agency taking over the accounting, safekeeping, and utilization of the said exclusive fund. The CLA did not collaborate with the MOI and the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) of the Executive Yuan to formulate a uniform procedure of budgeting and expenditure for the said exclusive fund so as to make it easier for the local governments to follow and review as well as for the central governments to supervise. Consequently, the Control Yuan redressed the CLA, the DGBAS, the MOI, and relevant local governments, requesting that improvement measures be carried out.
After following up with the agencies concerned with the case, the Control Yuan confirmed that the majority of local governments had already established the exclusive account for employment fund for the disabled pursuant to the law and malpractice had been corrected. In collaboration, the Ministry of Audit regularly evaluates the improvements made and annually reports to the Control Yuan. For those local governments that once had used the employment funds for the purposes other than promoting the benefits and interests of the physically and mentally disabled citizens, they took back NT$76, 774, 037 as of June 2004. As of the end of June 2004, the exclusive accounts for the employment fund established for the disabled totaled to more than NT$10.3 billion; the amount of differential subsidies owed by departments (institutions) is NT$150 million, with debt ratio 1.52%. Compared with the figures as of December 2000 when the amount owed was more than NT$290 million, with debt ratio 2.53%, there was a significant improvement. Moreover, the MOI enacted Article 14-1 of the “Enforcement Rules for the Physically and Mentally Disabled Citizens Protection Act,” which mandates that the exclusive account for employment fund established for the disabled be carried out by the accounting agency or personnel under the local labor government agency in compliance with the Accounting Act, Financial Statement Act, Government Procurement Act, and other relevant regulations to enhance the proper utilization of these funds and to establish a more effective system of checks and balances. In addition, to clearly define the scope and principle of the exclusive fund utilization, the CLA drafted the “Case References for Regulations on Incomes & Expenditures, Safekeeping, and Utilization of the Exclusive Account for Physically and Mentally Disabled,” which was provided to the local governments in October 2001.
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