The members of the 13th-term Examination Yuan have now been in office for two years. While continuing to review and streamline policies regarding examinations, qualification screening, and personnel systems, over the past year the organization and its subordinate agencies have also been actively communicating with employing institutions, local public opinion, professional organizations, and scholars and experts to review and amend a substantial number of outdated laws and regulations. These initiatives will allow government organizations to employ candidates based on talent and the proper fit, thereby raising national competitiveness. We hereby submit this report regarding the Examination Yuan’s major policy promotion achievements.
I. Promoted key legislation and amendments to improve the civil service system
The Examination Yuan’s most important task is to conduct a critical review of the legal system. The status of Legislative Yuan deliberations on major bills drafted as a result of those efforts is as follows:
（1）Bills passed by the Legislative Yuan
i. Draft amendments to the Civil Servant Work Act: Full text reviewed and amended for the first time since the Act was enacted and promulgated in 1939. Key changes include the amendment of provisions that: stipulate the applicable parties of the Act; set appropriate limits to external expressions of opinion by civil servants; stipulate categories of prohibited business operations and the relevant investments; adjust the procedures and intensity of regulations on holding concurrent positions. Framework regulations regarding on duty/off duty systems were also amended in response to Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 785. These amendments passed their third reading in the Legislative Yuan on May 30, 2022.
ii. Draft amendments to Articles 23 and 104 of the Civil Service Protection Act: In response to Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 785, amended provisions that define overtime and the overtime compensation method; added overtime compensation evaluation principles, and time limits and conversion mechanisms for compensatory leave. These amendments passed the third reading in the Legislative Yuan on May 30, 2022.
iii. Partial amendment of the Civil Service Employment Act: Added provisions that: allow organizations at the same level and of the same type to adopt joint staffing charts; allow organizations to eliminate employees on probation who are unsuitable for appointment based on factual evidence; prohibit employees on probation from transferring to a different occupational series during their probation period; allow persons who are unable to renounce their nationality due to the laws of a foreign country to be appointed to certain organizations to perform a limited scope of duties. These amendments passed the third reading in the Legislative Yuan on May 10, 2022.
iv. Partial amendment of the Civil Service Retirement, Severance and Survivor Relief Act and amendment of Articles 5, 15, and 40 of the Political Appointee Retirement and Survivor Relief Statute: To coordinate with Judicial Yuan Interpretation No.782, deleted the provision that suspended monthly pension payments to any person re-appointed to a position at a private school, and amended the tax mechanisms that apply to individual contributions to the public service pension fund as well as retirement income. In addition, the Public Service Pension Fund Management Act was partially amended to coordinate with taxation amendments. These amendments passed the third reading in the Legislative Yuan on December 28, 2021.
v. Amendments to Articles 35 and 51 of the Civil Servant and Teacher Insurance Act: Eased restrictions to allow a person and their spouse who are both insured under the Act to concurrently apply to receive an allowance for unpaid parental leave to raise the same child. These amendments passed the third reading in the Legislative Yuan on December 24, 2021.
（2）Bills awaiting consultation and review or submission to the relevant committee
i. Draft Act Governing Civil Servants’ Individual Account of Retirement, Severance and Survivor Relief; Draft Amendments to Articles 93 and 95 of the Civil Service Retirement, Severance and Survivor Relief Act; and partial amendment to the Civil Servant and Teacher Insurance Act: Pursuant to the provisions of Article 93 of the Civil Service Retirement, Severance and Survivor Relief Act, for civil servants appointed after July 1, 2023, a new pension and benefit system will be established. The new system provides a Workplace Pension program with a defined-contribution system, and sets up individual pension accounts. If implementation of the new pension and benefit system exhausts existing pension and benefit funding resulting in a financial shortfall, the government will allocate budget funds to subsidize such shortfall. Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee deliberations on this bill were completed on May 9,2022, and party caucus negotiations are now pending.
ii. Draft Act Governing the Qualifications and Appointments of Legal Professionals: To implement key resolutions from the 2017 National Conference on Judicial Reform, upgrade the legal quality of judicial, investigative, defense, and public service entities, and provide employing institutions with more room to participate in selecting personnel, this draft legislation will establish a special law with a selection process that integrates personnel from four occupational categories: judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and civil servants in the legal service occupational series. This legislation was referred to the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee on March 1, 2022 and is now pending deliberation.
iii. Draft Amendment of the Civil Service Transfer Regulations for Professional and Technical Personnel: To resolve the long-term shortfall in recruiting personnel in the professional and technical examination categories required by government agencies, the methods for hiring additional professional and technical personnel were amended, and a legal basis was added for public lawyers, public architects, and various categories of public sector professional and technical personnel positions. This legislation was referred to the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee on December 17, 2021 and is pending deliberation.
iv. Draft Amendment of Article 22 of the Civil Service Employment Act: Added provisions that allow a civil servant that is: subject to transfer restrictions for a period of time; personally cares for a child three years of age or younger; meets other specified criteria; and obtains the approval of the agency in which they originally served, to transfer to an agency near the child's actual residence and not be subject to the restrictions of the agency from which they transferred. These amendments were officially submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation on July 26, 2022, and have not yet been forwarded to the relevant committee.
II. Streamlined examination, qualification screening, protection, and training policies; strengthened exchanges with employing institutions and professional groups
To improve the examination and qualification screening system and make national hiring and talent selection more effective, the Examination Yuan celebrated its 92nd anniversary by holding a panel discussion exploring mechanisms that allow employing agencies to participate in the talent selection process, hoping to enhance future institutional design and bridge the gap between testing and workplace requirements.
To improve personnel systems, the Examination Yuan has also conducted on-site visits to strengthen communication and exchanges with employing institutions and local governments. These efforts included visits to: the Taiwan Police College to better understand the training situation for grassroots police officers; Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital to exchange views regarding the examination system for medical personnel and related professional and technical categories; Hualien County governments; the Forestry Bureau's Hualien Forest District Office under the Executive Yuan’s Council of Agriculture; the Pingtung County Government; and the Taiwu Township Office to hold round-table discussions regarding examination, qualification screening, protection, and training affairs, and listen to suggestions from the relevant entities regarding topics including personnel systems, occupational grades, operations transformation, organizational structure, and personnel requirements for indigenous areas.
To strengthen cooperation with universities and colleges and train personnel that meet public and private sector needs, the Ministry of Examination conducted panel discussions regarding national examinations at universities and colleges to gather input from faculty and students; held a series of panel discussions under the theme “Select Talent to Serve the Nation” in various counties and cities to communicate with local organizations, schools, and groups; conducted more national examination publicity sessions, inviting commissioners of the Examination Yuan as lecturers to attract young students, help them become more familiar with national examinations at an early age, and increase their willingness to register as examination candidates. In conjunction with commissioners of the Examination Yuan, the Ministry of Examination also held a series of panel discussions on topics including setting up computerized national examination sites and the examination system for medical personnel and related professional and technical personnel categories to actively improve examination and personnel selection measures.
The Civil Service Protection and Training Commission and the National Academy of Civil Service have also conducted numerous panel discussions. Commissioners of the Examination Yuan have participated on a rotating basis, holding discussions with representatives of trainees receiving statutory training, listening to suggestions from trainees from various central and local government agencies, and discussing how to resolve problems by amending laws and regulations to understand civil servant input, reform the civil service system, and create more, higher quality personnel systems.
In addition, various commissioners of the Examination Yuan have used their professional expertise to study and discuss civil service-related issues. Herewith are some representative examples of their efforts:
◆ Commissioner Chen Chin-seng convened an advisory meeting regarding a plan to adjust the Civil Service Senior Examination in the plant disease and pest control category; also hosted in a panel discussion on national examinations and university education.
◆ Commissioner Wu Hsin-hsing convened an advisory meeting regarding the Special Civil Service Transfer Examination for Veterans for job transition to promote the rights and interests of military veterans; also held a panel discussion regarding the correlation between bilingual education and bilingual training for civil servants.
◆ Commissioner Yang Ya-hwei convened an advisory meeting regarding the operations and support mechanisms for the new retirement and survivor relief system; also represented the Examination Yuan as a member of the Judicial Selection Committee of the Judicial Yuan.
◆ Commissioner Wang Hsiu-hung convened an advisory meeting regarding question drafting for the national examination for registered professional nurses and advanced specialists in basic medicine; also convened a consultation and discussion meeting regarding the National Academy of Civil Service’s research and compilation of gender equality curriculum for statutory training.
◆ Commissioner Chou Lien-siang convened an advisory meeting for a promotion project regarding ecological technologists and the research and drafting of a national examination; also convened an advisory meeting to plan a statutory training course for civil servants entitled Happy Homeland: Environmental Ethics and Sustainable Development.
◆ Commissioner Yao Leehter directed an improvement project regarding the special examination system for police officers; also facilitated raising the occupational grade of Commanders in Fire Department under special municipality governments; assisted the Taitung County Government to amend its organic self-government ordinances and staffing charts, and adjust personnel quota deployment regulations.
◆ Commissioner Iwan Nawi convened a task force meeting regarding the Special Civil Service Examination for Indigenous Peoples; also presided over the 2022 College and University Regional National Examinations for Indigenous Peoples lecture series.
◆ Commissioner Ho Yi-cheng presided over a review meeting of tax administration expertise in the Exam Affairs Human Resources Database; convened a task force meeting regarding setting up a streamlined question bank.
◆ Commissioner Chen Tsi-yang convened an advisory meeting regarding complementary measures for future legal personnel professional qualification examinations: also convened a research and advisory meeting regarding the method for drafting questions for judicial and legal personnel examinations.
III.Implemented a digitized service by launching a pilot program to issue digitized national examination qualification certificates
To promote service-oriented digital governance and simplify administrative procedures to provide public convenience, the Examination Yuan accelerated implementation of a digitized national examination qualification certificate (e-certificate) issuance service. First-stage service platform set-up and installation tasks were completed in July of 2022, and the pilot program began on schedule.
Implementation of the digitalized e-certificate program was divided into two stages. The first stage is a pilot program for civil servants who completed training courses and qualified for certification after August 1, 2022, and personnel who completed promotion training and qualified for certification after August 1, 2022. In principle, in the second stage the program will be fully implemented, and beginning in 2023 all personnel who pass national examinations or training programs, including civil service and professional and technical personnel examination as well as rank promotion examinations, will be issued e-certificates.
This year on August 29, Examination Yuan President Dr. Huang Jong-tsun personally sent email notifications for the first batch of e-certificates to 38 candidates who passed the 2021 Special Examination for Local Government. Upon receiving the notification email explaining the issuance process, successful candidates could complete the identification verification procedure, and then download their e-certificate at any time and as often as needed. They no longer need to worry about lost certificates, or the complicated operations and inconvenient administrative procedures associated with paper certificates.
IV.Coordinated with digital transformation goals by promoting evidence-based research and decision-making
To coordinate with digital transformation goals and implement digital governance based on data analysis, the Examination Yuan commissioned two research projects in 2022. One project researched the correlation between the categories in which civil servants register for and pass examinations and their career development, and the academic department from which they graduated. The other project researched talent recruitment and retention for off-shore islands.
The primary research methodologies for both projects utilized the Examination Yuan’s personnel management database, with various ministries and agencies providing the research teams with de-identified raw data for analysis based on the teams’research topic requirements, hoping to use evidence-based research to make evidence-based policy recommendations.
In addition, to promote open data sharing and support evidence-based research, a plan was initiated in July of 2021 to set up a personnel statistical data query network for the Examination Yuan and its subordinate institutions. The network, designed to provide system automation functions, an intuitive interface, and query flexibility, can immediately produce a wide variety of statistical charts within the form data of a selected frame based on the user’s requirements and preferences. Using the network’s interactive query mode and data visualization capabilities, people from all sectors of society will be able to analyze personnel statistical data quickly and easily. System construction and installation are expected to be completed by the end of November of 2022, and the system will formally go online at the beginning of 2023.
V.Expanded social dialogue by publishing the National Human Resources Forum e-Newsletter
In addition to exploring reform directions in examination, qualification screening, protection, and training institutions at all levels, the Examination Yuan’s National Human Resources Forum e-Newsletter links the promotion of major bills with current issues to clarify institutional planning and policy execution, providing a channel to communicate with society and provide explanations.
Between January of 2021 when the first issue was published and August of 2022, the Forum has been accessed a total of 100,391 times. Over the past year, 12 issues have been published on a monthly basis:
◆ Issue 9 Developing Public Service Medical Personnel
◆ Issue 10 Reflecting on the Impact of 108 Curriculum Trends on National Examinations
◆ Issue 11 Bilingual Nation Policy Promotion Strategies for Public Service Personnel
◆ Issue 12 Transformation and the Civil Service Examination and Qualification Screening Systems in Various Countries
◆ Issue 13 Exploring Participation in the Talent Selection Mechanism by Employing Institutions: Examination Yuan 92nd Anniversary Forum
◆ Issue 14 Explaining the New System for the Qualification and Appointment of Legal Professionals
◆ Issue 15 Experts Discuss the New System for the Qualification and Appointment of Legal Professionals
◆ Issue 16 A New Retirement and Survivor Relief System for Civil Servants and Teachers Newly Appointed in 2023
◆ Issue 17 A Historic Moment in the Separation of Powers: Controversy Surrounding the Constitutionality of Discipline/Punishment
◆ Issue 18 Let the Numbers Tell the Truth: Interpreting Public Service Personnel Statistics
◆ Issue 19 Multiple Perspectives on Transforming Civil Service Junior and Senior Examinations
◆ Issue 20 New Areas of Competency for Forward-Looking Civil Servants