The Ministry of Labor (MOL) has proposed an amendment that would increase fines for employers and agents who illegally recruit or find jobs for foreign workers to address the issue of an increasing number of missing migrant workers.
As of August, there were 745,000 migrant workers in Taiwan, but the number of workers who were unaccounted for rose from 48,491 in 2019 to 84,339, Ministry of the Interior data showed.
The issue came under scrutiny at a meeting yesterday of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee, with lawmakers asking labor and interior ministry officials to come up with more effective solutions.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Deputy Minister of the Interior Wu Rong-hui (吳容輝) attributed the surge in missing migrant workers to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the government restricted their recruitment, leading to an imbalance of supply and demand in the labor market.
From January to August, 3 percent of migrant workers could not be accounted for, down from 4.16 percent in the same period last year, thanks to the easing of pandemic restrictions and resumption of international travel, Wu said, adding that the number of missing migrant workers had dropped by nearly 6,000.
Workforce Development Agency Director Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said that a proposed amendment to the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) would impose heavier penalties on employers and brokers who illegally hire or refer migrant brokers.
Employers who breach the law would be fined up to NT$750,000 (US$23,227) per person hired, rather than per case as stated in the current regulations, Tsai said.
Employment agents who illegally find jobs for migrant workers would be fined up to NT$1.5 million per person hired, up from a fine of up to NT$500,000 per case, Tsai said.
Separately, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said that the government has yet to decide whether migrant workers should be recruited to address the labor shortage in the service industry.
Hsu was responding to media reports that the Executive Yuan would allow those in the accommodation sector to recruit migrant workers as proposed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
The proposal has encountered stiff opposition from the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions, which on Monday said that hoteliers could not find housekeeping staff because they are often underpaid and forced to work long hours.
“Businesses in the service industry can only attract and retain workers if they increase salaries, improve their work environment and encourage women and middle-aged and elderly workers to be re-employed through flexible and age-friendly work arrangements,” the confederation said. “Allowing businesses to recruit migrant workers would only help them save on personnel costs and [cause] ... a downward spiral of low salaries.”
Hsu said that the employment of Taiwanese workers is the labor ministry’s priority.
“The transportation ministry has the right to propose solutions to the labor shortage problem in hotels and the accommodation sector, but recruiting migrant workers for the service industry is a serious matter and needs to be done cautiously. Any change to the current labor policy can only be made following thorough discussions with our transnational labor policy consultation and advisory group,” Hsu said.
The Executive Yuan has asked the labor ministry to find employment for local job seekers first before considering recruiting migrant workers, she said.
The hotel and accommodation sectors are short of about 1,000 workers, and although the ministry has recommended about 5,000 job seekers for hoteliers to consider, only 500 were hired, Hsu said.
“Hotel and accommodation service operators think women and middle-aged and elderly workers cannot do housekeeping jobs... They need to change their mindsets and give local workers a chance. After all, almost every industry is short of workers,” she said.
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