Non-profit agencies could soon hire foreign workers

A Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) plan to lift the ban on non-profit organizations serving as employment brokers for foreign workers is expected to stimulate robust competition in the employment-services sector and lead to better provision of appropriately qualified caregivers to serve disabled and elderly people with special needs.

Liao Wei-ren (廖為仁), director of the CLA's Division of Foreign Worker Affairs, told reporters that the draft proposal would entitle those social welfare organizations to seek and import foreign caregivers who are capable of providing special services to those families having disabled or elderly members.

"At the same time, those groups would also be able to promote the common interests of all caregivers," Liao said.

The lifting of the ban would be expected to lead to an increase in the importation of foreign workers appropriately trained to meet the special needs of disabled and elderly people by enabling non-profit organizations to give full rein to their expertise in the field.

The council is scheduled to pass the proposal within a month, after holding its first discussion on the matter in a committee meeting yesterday.

In a joint press conference Thursday, more than 10 social-welfare organizations appealed to the government to take seriously the special demand for caregivers presented by the roughly 286,000 families that have disabled or elderly members.

The organizations stressed the difficulties they face recruiting appropriately qualified caregivers.

The appeal came after presidential adviser Liu Hsia's (劉俠) death last Saturday. Liu died as a result of an attack, allegedly from her Indonesian caregiver who is thought to be suffering from a psychological affliction caused by severe emotional stress.

Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), secretary-general of the Alliance for Handicapped People (殘障聯盟), said in the press conference that Taiwan's families have for a long time faced the difficulties of hiring appropriate caregivers.

One of the biggest hardships is that local caregivers charge almost three times as much as foreign caregivers and refuse to work for more than eight hours a day.

Currently, a foreign caregiver's average monthly salary is less than NT$ 20,000, while local caregiver's monthly salary is usually higher than NT$ 45,000.

Under the draft proposal, these non-commercial organizations would be prohibited from charging brokerage fees to foreign workers. Whether to charge a fee to Taiwanese employers -- and how much to charge them -- is still under discussion.

Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴), secretary-general of the League of Welfare Improvement for Older People, applauded the CLA's decision not to charge brokerage fees to the foreign workers.

"It's understandable for foreign workers not to concentrate on their jobs, when most of their salaries are taken by the brokerage agencies," Wu said.

Currently, commercial brokerage agencies charge between NT$ 90,000 and NT$200,000 for each person who wishes to come to Taiwan to work.

Kuo Fong-yu (郭芳煜), director of the CLA's Employment and Vocation Training Administration, said that the move is expected to effectively decrease the high brokerage fees charged by the commercial brokerage agencies and stimulate vigorous competition among the brokers.

The draft proposal states that non-commercial organizations that have been established for more than five years and have more than NT$100 million in capital are entitled to apply to act as brokers.