Several migrant worker rights groups held a protest at the Ministry of Labor in Taipei yesterday accusing foreign labor employment agencies of illegally withholding migrant workers’ employment and employer transfer permits.
The two permits are the most important documents to prove that a migrant worker can legally work and switch employers, protesters said, adding that the expiration dates of the residency and national health insurance cards are set based on the documents.
However, foreign labor employment agencies often withhold these documents and say that they are guarding the documents on behalf of migrant workers, and new employers or brokers would be asked to pay a job matching fee and a separate fee to obtain them, they said.
Photo: CNA
Migrant workers should be allowed to hold these important papers, they said.
Fines for brokers and employers who illegally withhold the documents should be increased, and local labor departments must ensure that migrant workers hold onto their passports, employment permits and residency cards, they said.
Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) had said that the job-matching fee is an abusive labor practice, and terminating it would benefit employers and migrant workers, they said.
Hung should address the problem now that he is the labor minister, they said.
The Employment Service Act (就業服務法) bans employment agencies from withholding documents and certificates of migrant workers without their consent, Workforce Development Agency Cross-border Workforce Management Division specialist Lee hui-feng (李慧芬) said.
Contravening the regulation would result in a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 (US$1,846 to US$9,228), she said.
The ministry would propose an amendment to the act that would prohibit brokers from withholding migrant workers’ documents, passports and residency cards even if they sign consent forms, she said.
The ministry has helped about 2,800 migrant workers retrieve their employment and personal identification documents this year and is investigating 58 complaints filed by migrant workers, she added.
The ministry is investigating 175 foreign labor employment agencies and is interviewing 550 employers and migrant workers who use their services to better understand their pricing schemes, she said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
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
RSS