Employers cannot force migrant workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, the Workforce Development Agency said in a statement on Saturday, following rumors of such incidents.
Employers of migrant workers and labor brokers should encourage workers to receive COVID-19 shots, but any form of coercion is illegal, the agency said.
In addition, employers and brokers should not prohibit migrant workers from receiving a jab, it said.
Such actions contravene the Criminal Code and are punishable by a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 (US$2,141 to US$10,704), according to the Employment Service Act (就業服務法), the agency said.
The announcement came after rumors on social media that some migrant workers have been forced to sign a document promising that they would receive COVID-19 vaccines.
It was not immediately clear whether the Ministry of Labor has received any complaints over such incidents.
The workforce agency encouraged migrant workers to get vaccinated as soon as vaccine shots become available, adding that they can register for vaccination through an online system developed by the Executive Yuan to facilitate vaccination appointments.
If a migrant worker experiences a serious adverse reaction after inoculation, their employer or broker should make sure they see a doctor immediately, the agency said.
In such instances, migrant workers can apply to the Ministry of Health and Welfare for compensation, the agency added.
The health ministry has launched a Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which provides up to NT$6 million to people who develop severe adverse reactions after vaccination. The payment would be made to the vaccine recipient’s next of kin if they die due to vaccine-related complications.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
RSS