The Ministry of Labor (MOL) is to authorize foundations and nonprofit groups to employ foreign nationals as carers on hourly pay, with a trial program primed to be launched in the coming months.
The revamped foreign carer scheme was devised to prevent overworking migrant workers and burdening families with managerial tasks stemming from being the employer of record, the ministry said in a preview of new regulations posted on Wednesday.
An estimated 200,000 Taiwanese families hire foreign nationals to care for elderly or chronically ill people, ministry data showed.
Photo: Taipei Times
The public notice period for the new rules has been shortened to a week in light of urgent demand for carers, it said.
The program would authorize nonprofit organizations to employ foreign carers before assigning them to families in need, enabling carers to work in half-day or full-day shifts, or four and eight hours respectively, the ministry said.
To work as carers, foreign nationals must complete professional training in a certified hospital or related school before entering Taiwan, the ministry said.
Migrants with six months of experience in care work before the rules’ promulgation can receive certification by completing an eight-hour course in Taiwan, it said.
Foundations and nonprofit organizations must provide documentation proving their competence and intent to provide care, and be more than five years old to recruit migrant workers under the program, the ministry said.
The employing entity would be responsible for liabilities stemming from preventable misconduct by migrant workers in their employ, in addition to the latter’s NT$2,000 monthly employment security stipend, it said.
Exempting migrant workers from working-time regulations provides the flexibility needed for home care, as carers must care for and live with their clients, Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Director Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛) said.
The ministry is to disclose details about the trial by the year’s end, Cross-Border Workforce Management Division Director Su Yu-kuo (蘇裕國) said.
The trial would be held by a designated entity in the northern, central and southern regions with the target of serving 2,500 people in need of care, he said.
The ministry has consulted with representatives of parties that would be affected by the proposed legal changes, as they entail exempting migrant workers employed in home care from work-hour restrictions stipulated by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), Huang said.
The government would submit the proposed amendments in a bill to the Legislative Yuan if no significant objection to the notice is raised before the end of the preview period, the Workforce Development Agency said.
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