Government relaxes restrictions on foreign care-givers

The Council of Labor Affairs (勞委會) announced yesterday it is relaxing restrictions on the eligibility of handicapped people to employ foreign care-givers.

"The decision has been made out of concern that the social welfare system in Taiwan is not fully developed," said Su Shiu-yi (蘇秀義), deputy director-general of the council's Employment and Vocational Training Administration (職訓局). "The government does not have a budget to provide care to those in need."

The looser standards follow fierce criticism against the council's action last September to tighten restrictions on eligibility. The move was blasted as "allowing only the most serious physically and mentally handicapped to make an application."

Taiwan opened the market for care-givers in 1995. Requirements for applications, however, were tightened in September in adherence to the country's policy of cutting down on foreign workers in an effort to remedy the deepening unemployment problem.

The council has developed strategies to ensure the foreign care-giver population stays within certain limits after the looser standard takes effect tomorrow.

"Otherwise the participation of local residents in the care-giving industry will be blocked," the council said.

"Data from the Ministry of the Interior [內政部] will be applied to check that an individual hiring a foreign care-giver is still alive. If the person has died and none of the family members is eligible for the service, we will revoke the care-giver's work permit," Su said.

A higher standard is also to be applied to decide whether a medical institution is qualified to carry out a professional evaluation of the extent of a patient's dependency.

The council is to raise the standard payment of local care-givers to attract their participation in the market. Currently, approval for employment of a foreign care-giver is granted to those who qualify as handicapped if they cannot find a local care-giver.

The council will also raise the fees that an employer of a foreign care-giver must pay to promote the employment of local workers.

The council's statistics show that by the end of June, among 329,612 foreign workers in Taiwan, 102,804 -- or almost one-third -- are care-givers. The others are mainly housemaids, employees of daycare institutions, or work in the fishery, manufacturing and construction industries.

Last year's policy modification was aimed at reducing the number of foreign workers by 15,000 by next month. The council now estimates that that goal can only be achieved by the end of this year -- and only if the Economic Development Advisory Council does not propose opening the declining manufacturing sector to foreign workers.

The relaxing of restrictions on foreign care-givers will bring in over 11,000 more foreign workers annually, said Su.