Taiwan plans to raise the minimum monthly wage for live-in migrant caregivers and domestic helpers from NT$17,000 to NT$20,000, following progress in talks with Indonesia, where most of Taiwan’s caregivers originate, a labor official said on Thursday.
Indonesia last month agreed to exempt Taiwan from its zero-placement fee policy, and to resume processing applications of new caregivers to work in Taiwan after a series of talks, said Paul Su (蘇裕國), head of the Workforce Development Agency’s Cross-Border Workforce Management Division.
Indonesia in March halted Taiwan-based applications from new caregivers due to resistance from Taiwanese employers toward Indonesia’s zero-fee policy, which Su said has been introduced in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Photo: Taipei Times
Indonesia since 2000 has been pushing for foreign employers to pay workers’ placement costs, including flight tickets, passport and visa fees, and labor brokerage payments.
Ministry of Labor data as of June 30 showed that there were 218,372 migrant caregivers and domestic helpers working in Taiwan, including 164,786 from Indonesia, 27,315 from Vietnam and 25,867 from the Philippines.
The minimum monthly wage for live-in caregivers and domestic helpers is NT$17,000, lower than the national minimum wage, as such workers are not covered by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
Only the 15,530 caregivers who work at care institutions are protected by the law, and earn the national minimum wage of NT$25,250, which also covers the 468,806 migrant workers who have industrial jobs in Taiwan.
Su said the proposal to raise the minimum wage would be sent to the employment security fund management committee of the Ministry of Labor for review before the wage increase can be formally introduced.
The committee passed a resolution in early July asking the Workforce Development Agency to submit a plan for the wage increase and supplementary measures, such as subsidies for disadvantaged employers.
UNDER WATCH: Taiwan will have to establish a standardized nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus and monitor its spread, the CDC said The Langya henipavirus, which can be transmitted from animals to humans, has been discovered in China, with 35 human infections reported so far, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, adding that the nation would establish a nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus. A study titled “A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China” that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday said that a new henipavirus associated with a fever-causing human illness was identified in China. The study said an investigation identified 35 patients with acute infection of the Langya henipavirus in China’s Shandong
If any war were to break out between the US and China, one trigger might be the increasingly frequent fighter jet encounters near Taiwan. Almost every day, Taiwanese fighter pilots hop in their US-made F-16s to intercept Chinese warplanes screaming past their territory. The encounters probe the nation’s defenses and force the pilots on both sides to avoid mistakes that could lead to a crisis that spins out of control. “I didn’t know whether they would fire at me,” said retired colonel Mountain Wang, recounting a tense five-minute confrontation he had with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) jets more than a decade
RESTRICTION EASED: Passengers would no longer be directed to designated waiting areas, and be allowed to shop and dine, the operator of the airport said International travelers transiting at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport would from today be allowed to go shopping and dine in the airport’s departure areas, the airport operator said, as the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) eased some border restrictions imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said reopening borders is a global trend, and since reallowing transit passengers from June 15, the airport has continued to review its procedures to improve services and efficiency. Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, inspected the airport on July 22, while Deputy Minister of Transportation and
BLOCKADE RUNNERS: The military should prepare to cope with a possible blockade of Taiwan, and the latest drills give China a new basis for exercises, security experts said Taiwan should pay close attention to whether China will normalize military drills around the nation, experts said yesterday, adding that the military must devise coping strategies. China from Thursday to yesterday conducted its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan in retaliation for a visit last week by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. Although the nation’s armed forces have won public support by condemning the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for bullying Taiwan, the military should bolster its capabilities, Institute of National Defense and Security Research research fellow Su Tzu-yun
RSS