In a bid to curb employment agencies' exploitation of Filipino workers, the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a measure which allows for the direct employment of Filipinos.
Based on a memorandum signed between Taiwan and the Philippines on Jan. 12, yesterday's measure stated that Taiwan employers can now hire directly from the Philippines' de facto embassy in Taipei -- the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).
MECO yesterday said it welcomed the bill.
"The principle objective of this law is to eradicate the so-called brokerage fee. This will enhance immediately the deployment of [Filipino] workers on a government-to-government basis," said Eliot Cojuangco, MECO's labor representative, adding that the employment of workers would be processed by the Philippine government's Special Direct Hiring Program and the Council of Labor Affairs.
Cojuangco, however, said Philippine workers in Taiwan earn higher wages than their peers working in Singapore and Malaysia.
According to statistics, there were approximately 97,000 Filipino workers and maids in Taiwan as of January. Most of them had to pay a brokerage fee of between US$1,000 and US$6,000 before they were introduced to Taiwan employers through Philippine and Taiwanese job placement agencies. To pay off the brokerage fee, some Filipino workers were reported to have fled from their legal employers to work illegally for higher wages.
"That [brokerage] fee is exorbitant considering the minimum [monthly] wage for factory workers is about NT$16,000," Manila's de facto ambassador in Taiwan, Rodolfo Reyes said, adding that the bill covers factory workers but does not include maids.
RSS