The Council of Labor Affairs yesterday defended its proposal to open special bank accounts for foreign workers, while civic groups protested against the plan.
The council told civic groups that a foreign laborer would have the right to choose whether to conduct a financial transaction through the council's proposed special account system.
PHOTO: CNA
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights and the Taiwan Migrant Workers' Association, meanwhile, held protests yesterday against the proposal, which they consider to be an invasion of privacy.
The proposed system would require foreign nationals to open personal accounts at selected local or foreign-owned banks before they arrive in the country. Their employers would then remit wages into those accounts each month after deducting brokerage and other fees. The council has said that the system is meant to discourage financial exploitation by employment agencies or employers.
"Without the permission of the foreign laborer, a bank cannot conduct any transactions through his account, as it is against Article 48 of the Banking Law (
Chen said the proposed financial system ensured that wages would be directed into foreign laborers' special accounts in a timely manner and would alert authorities if there were irregularities.
"If an employer financially exploits a foreign worker, or if the financial status of an account shows any irregular activity, the government is able to step in and protect the foreign worker," Chen said.
Chen also said that as long as a commercial bank has a foreign exchange department, it would be able to set up a specialized account for a foreign laborer. The lack of a designated bank for this service suggested that it was not advantageous to any particular bank, he said.
The council also indicated that after discussing the legal issues involved for such a financial system, legal experts had felt that as long as foreign laborers granted permission to the bank to conduct financial transactions, there should not be any legal problems.
The protesting groups, after canvassing opinion from other labor and human-rights groups, lobbied the council to abandon the proposed financial system.
In response to the request, the council has invited representatives from countries such as the Philippines and Thailand, as well as foreign labor groups and banks, to discuss the proposal.
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