A law giving foreign domestic workers at least one day off a week has been drafted, Deputy Minister of Labor Lin San-quei (林三貴) said yesterday, adding the draft is still being reviewed by the Cabinet.
Lin made the comment following the release of a US Department of State report saying that migrant domestic helpers and live-in caregivers in Taiwan are not ensured at least one day off per week, preventing them from participating in religious activities.
The 2015 International Religious Freedom Report, released on Wednesday, said that domestic service workers and caregivers in Taiwan are not covered under the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and are therefore not legally guaranteed a weekly rest day. Because of this many domestic workers are not able to attend religious services.
Unlike the report issued in previous years, last year’s report highlighted that Taiwanese authorities view this as a labor issue, not a religious freedom issue.
Religious leaders continued to raise concerns that the law does not guarantee a day off per week for the about 225,000 domestic workers and caregivers, and thus limited their ability to attend religious services, the report said.
Lin said that as the draft is still pending approval, the Ministry of Labor hopes that a weekly day off for foreign domestic workers could be stipulated in their contracts for the time being.
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