Who do the Guidelines apply to? Are physicians at public hospitals, public school teachers or employees of public enterprises subject to them?

1. Scope of applicability: The Guidelines are for all personnel governed by the Civil Service Act who work for the Executive Yuan or its subordinate units (see Guidelines, Article 2, Paragraph b). The relevant statute and interpretation are as follows:
   1. Article 24 of the Civil Service Act states “This Act is applicable to all salaried civil servants, military personnel and other employees of public enterprises.”
   2. Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 308 (abstract) states: “The Civil Service Act shall apply to teachers who serve concurrently as administrators of school affairs.”
2. Physicians at public hospitals
   1. Medical staff of public hospitals employed in accordance with Article 33 of the Civil Service Employment Act and Articles 3, 4, 8 and 10 of the Statute for Medical Personnel. By definition, they are also civil servants under Article 24 of the Civil Service Act, thus the Guidelines also apply to them.
   2. The Guidelines also apply to contract physicians at public hospitals who are employed as per the terms of the Contract-based Worker Employment Act, as defined in a Ministry of Civil Service interpretation concerning to whom the Civil Service Act applies. Hospitals may also elect to apply the Guidelines to contract personnel employed under the Guidelines for the Hiring and Management of Contract Employees at Hospitals Affiliated with the Department of Health (to whom the Civil Service Act does not apply), or include certain of the Guidelines’ articles into contracts to address ethics.
   3. Each agency, in accordance with its managerial needs, is authorized to set ethical standards and rules stricter than those outlined in the Guidelines and determine the scope of applicability.
3. Public school teachers: Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 308 (abstract) states: “The Civil Service Act shall apply to teachers who serve concurrently as administrators of school affairs,” making such teachers subject to the Guidelines. However, the competent authority for educational matters has the power to set other ethics Guidelines for public school teachers.
4. Employees of public enterprises: As such individuals are subject to Article 24 of the Civil Servant Act, employees (including the chairperson, auditors and general managers—see Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 24) of public enterprises are thus subject to the Guidelines. The Guidelines, however, do not apply to laborers.