Foreign labor laws to change September 1: CLA

2001/8/31

The China Post staff

The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) is set to implement new measures concerning hiring foreign workers starting on Sept. 1, in an effort to reduce employers' costs and better protect the interests of the over 300,000 foreign workers employed in Taiwan.

The CLA decided to take the action in accordance with proposals adopted by the recently concluded conference of presidential Economic Development Advisory Council (EDAC).

EDAC members gave their endorsement to the CLA's earlier plan to include between NT$2,500 and NT$5,000 in boarding fees as part of a foreign worker's monthly wage, which now stands at least NT$15,840 (US$458) as the minimum wage protected by the Labor Standards Law.

The CLA will set the figure at NT$2,500 per month for now but will gradually increase the portion to NT$5,000.

The CLA has already reached agreements with major suppliers of foreign workers like Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The Philippines is currently the only holdout. But the CLA decided to go ahead with the plan without further consultations with Manila. This will let employers and market forces decide who will be hired.

Employers have long been pressuring the CLA to take action since they are now paying much higher wages to foreign workers than their counterparts in neighboring Asian areas like Singapore and Hong Kong.

Chen Chu, chairwoman of the CLA and an ardent advocate of labor rights, stressed that the inclusion of costs for meals and living quarters does not sacrifice foreign workers' rights.

Other new CLA measures require an official quadrilateral contract among employer, foreign worker as well as foreign and domestic labor agencies before a foreign worker is brought into Taiwan.

The standard NT$56,000 labor brokerage fees to be charged from each foreign worker will be reduced NT$6,000 on each side of foreign and domestic labor agencies.

The aggregate amount of other expenses like airline tickets and the three-year physical examination fees charged from each worker is set between NT$54,000 and NT$58,000. Foreign and domestic labor agencies are not allowed to add any surcharge.

The agencies are prohibited from collecting the NT$1,000 monthly service fee and physical examination fee during the three-year contract period in a lump sum.

In addition, the CLA will also encourage the use of complaint channels to protect foreign workers from being exploited. It will offer higher award money to the reporting of unfair treatment or illegal activities of employers and labor agencies.

In order to help forestall unreasonable increases in labor brokerage fees by labor agencies, the CLA will consign recruiting work to some non-profit organizations.

Meanwhile, an association of labor agencies in Taipei City urged the government to freeze the importation of Philippine workers because the Manila government refuses to support the CLA policies while forcing employers in Taiwan to sign unfair contracts.

Kwan Wen-chieh, head of the association, said he will ask all member companies in the group to boycott the hiring of Philippine workers. He will also remind all employers that they will have to pay an additional NT$2,500 cost when hiring a worker from the Philippines.

Kwan said Filipinas used to account for 95 percent of all housemaids and caretakers for physically challenged people from abroad about three years ago. But those from Indonesia have now increased to over 50 percent on the market after the government opened the doors to Indonesian people.

He said the government and employers should not worry about inadequate supply of foreign workers at plants or households. He said people from many other nations, including India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have shown high interest in working in Taiwan.

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