company uniforms according to their biological gender. During
recruitment, the company refused to hire an applicant who declined to wear
a uniform that did not match their gender identity, leading the applicant to
file a complaint with the Taoyuan City Government.
In 2021, the Taoyuan City Government Gender Equality Committee
found that the aforementioned company violated Article 7 of the Gender
Equality in Employment Act. Under the provisions of Article 38-1,
Paragraphs 1 and 3 of the same act, the company was fined, and the name
of the company and its responsible person were made public, and an order
for immediate improvement was made. 52
The Taoyuan City Government asserted that the job content of the
cosmetics salesperson involved “providing face-to-face services to gain
customer recognition of the value and benefits of cosmetic products,
resulting in their willingness to pay for the products and complete the sale.”
The company failed to prove any reasonable or necessary connection
between the gender factor and the nature of the job, evidently
discriminating based on the complainant’s sexual orientation. The
company appealed to the Ministry of Labor, which upheld the original
decision by the Taoyuan City Government, finding no illegality or
impropriety in the initial ruling.53
d) Executive Yuan review of policewomen and female firefighter
uniform regulations based on CEDAW guidelines.
On July 17, 2014, the 19th CEDAW Regulatory Review Task Force
Meeting was held by the Executive Yuan. The task force reviewed
regulations such as the Police Uniforms Act and Firefighting Uniforms
Code, and determined that mandating that policewomen and female
firefighters wear only skirt-based uniforms constituted gender stereotyping
and violated the provisions stipulated in Article 5, Subparagraph (a) of
52
“Taoyuan City Gender Equality Committee Approval Letter” (sanction Fu-LaoTiao-Zi No. 1100001589) released on January 11, 2021.
53
“Ministry of Labor Appeal Decision Letter” (Lao-Dong-Fa-Su-Zi No. 1100002127)
released on July 30, 2021.
62