The current level of the occupational accident insurance fund, at NT$35.1 billion (US$1.15 billion), is sufficient to ensure its healthy operation, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said on Tuesday.
From May 1 last year, when the Labor Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act (勞工職業災害保險及保護法) took effect, to March 1, the insurance fund has collected NT$8.65 billion in premiums and issued NT$6.6 billion in compensation, the ministry said.
As of February, about 787,000 employers had provided 11.03 million workers with the insurance, compared with about 594,000 employers who provide labor insurance to 10.38 million workers.
Photo: CNA
All employers must provide occupational accident insurance to workers, including employers of live-in caregivers and those who run businesses with fewer than five employees, who are not legally required to offer labor insurance.
As of February, about 1,200 employers had been fined for failing to provide workers with insurance, the ministry said.
Under the act, employers who fail to insure workers against occupational accidents face a fine of NT$20,000 to NT$100,000, and can be subjected to repeated fines until they provide insurance.
Forty of the about 1,200 infractions involved beneficiaries who sought compensation after an employee sustained or succumbed to work-related injuries, the ministry said.
None of those cases involved migrant live-in caregivers, who are automatically insured against occupational accidents upon arrival, it said.
The ministry said that without further research, it was unable to provide a figure as to how many of those infractions involved migrant workers engaged in construction or factory work, or the amount of compensation paid in the event of a fatality.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
RSS