The Taiwan International Worker-Employment Relationship Harmony Development Association yesterday called for a special law on foreign domestic workers to protect their rights and those of their employers.
Members of the association and the Association of Spinal Cord Injury Taipei, as well as 10 people in wheelchairs, rallied at Taipei’s 228 Peace Memorial Park (228和平紀念公園) calling for the right to receive better care services and to be treated with respect and dignity.
Citing a case of a foreign domestic worker unexpectedly giving birth in her shocked employer’s home, Taiwan International Worker-Employment Relationship Harmony Development Association honorary adviser Chien Li-chen (簡莉珍) said that at-home caregivers often need to perform physically demanding work, which can be difficult if they are pregnant.
Photo: CNA
After asking a caregiver to demonstrate how she would help lift a man surnamed Lai (賴) — who has a damaged spine, is 1.87m tall and weighs 85kg — from his wheelchair, Chien said that the strenuous task is performed more than six times per day and would be difficult for a pregnant caregiver.
“The work foreign domestic workers perform is different from that of foreign factory workers. If a factory worker who operates machinery becomes pregnant, she can be temporarily assigned to do product quality control,” Chien said.
“However, a pregnant domestic worker cannot perform at-home caregiving tasks, even if she changes employer,” she added.
A specialized law is needed on foreign domestic workers, who should be required to take regular pregnancy tests, to protect the rights of hardworking caregivers and their employers, Chien said.
“We need stable care services, but must also protect the rights of caregivers, because we understand their hard work to take care of us,” Lai said. “However, we do not want the Ministry of Labor to ‘kill people’ for the sake of ‘protecting human rights.’”
He said that the ministry on Oct. 22 notified agencies associated with foreign domestic workers that employers cannot ask to replace a caregiver who has become pregnant, saying that doing so would be punishable by a fine of up to NT$1.5 million (US$49,159) and a two-year ban on hiring domestic workers.
“This is torture for us,” Lai said. “If they cannot perform care work after they become pregnant, or are taken to a shelter, then who will take care of us?”
The Regulations Governing Management of the Health Examination of Employed Aliens (外國人健康檢查管理辦法) stipulate that foreign workers are not required to take pregnancy tests.
Foreign domestic workers’ labor rights are also protected by the Gender Equality in Employment Act (性別工作平等法), which stipulates than an employer cannot discriminate or fire them due to their pregnancy.
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