In a bid to provide a better service to foreign workers seeking information or help regarding SARS-related matters, the Cabinet-level Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) has opened hot lines in four different foreign languages to offer free consultations, a CLA official said yesterday.
The four hot lines are 0800-885885 for the English service, 0800-885995 for the Thai service, 0800-885958 for the Indonesian service or 0800-017858 for the Vietnamese service.
The official added that the rights and interests of foreign workers in Taiwan who become infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will be fully protected.
foreign workers
The official said foreign workers, including the 13 currently in quarantine at the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital, will be equally covered and protected in compliance with an anti-SARS act.
The anti-SARS act was recently approved by the Legislative Yuan to fight the potentially deadly disease.
Under the terms of the act, Taiwan employers must pay the salaries and provide sick leave to foreign workers who fall victim to SARS or even die from the disease.
insurance
After the quarantine period for any of their employees ends, the employers can apply for labor premium insurance subsidies with the CLA in accordance with the law.
Two workers from Indonesia have already died from the mysterious epidemic thus far.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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