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.
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