Changhua County will finally pay out years of unpaid overtime to its firefighters, good news for roughly 745 frontline staff who have been working long hours without full compensation.

• County councillors publicly pressed the local government to stop withholding what they called firefighters' hard-earned money.
• The fire department will make a single payout of about NT$50 million before November, covering overtime from January 2023 through July 2024.
• Firefighters can claim only up to NT$19,000 a month in overtime pay, and staffing is so thin that they cannot use up the leave they are owed instead.
• Under rules that started in 2023, unused overtime must be paid in cash once the two-year window to take time off expires — so the money should have been budgeted last year.
• Councillors say the real fix is hiring more firefighters, plus a dedicated budget line for overtime every year.

Outlook: The back pay clears one bill, but without more hiring the same shortfall is likely to build up again.