The Council of Labor Affairs has decided to amend its definition of "death from overwork" by following the model in Japan. In addition to factoring in the hours and the workload, the employees' health conditions will also be put into consideration in the near future.

The recent death of a Nanya Technology engineer is widely attributed to "death from overwork."

Three months ago, the engineer's parents revealed that their son had been working 95 hours per week for the six months preceding his death, or 13 to 19 hours per day.

Controversy arose when the death was not classified as occupational sudden death, and the Council of Labor Affairs recently decided to ease restrictions on the definition of occupational sudden death.

The CLA intends to follow the Japanese model and include cerebral and cardiopulmonary conditions in the definition and certification process.

In the future, factors including overtime hours and workload will also be used to determine whether a death was the result of overwork.

According to the CLA, the new standards may be applied to three disputed occupational death cases, including that of the Nanya engineer, currently under review by the Occupational Disease Appraisal Commission.