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CLA revamps its hiring process for foreign caregivers

The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) yesterday announced it will change the application process for hiring foreign caregivers, in a move lauded by local hiring agencies charged with finding 24-hour medical help for the infirm.

CLA Chairman Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said that medical authorities will professionally assess whether the employment of a foreign caregiver is warranted, and that the so-called "Barthel" index will no longer be applied.

Currently, a Taiwanese family wishing to hire a foreign caregiver must submit the index, which gives scores from zero to 100 to assess the degree of disability in a person under strict criteria.

Local hiring agencies have described the criteria as much too strict, applicable only to those who are "almost dead."

They said at least 50 per cent of Taiwanese who need 24-hour caregivers' help are barred from employing foreign caregivers because they can still walk despite their feeble condition.

The new measures will be put into place as soon as possible, Lee said.

Previously a medical physician assessed a patient's needs using the Barthel Index and then forwarded the information directly to the CLA.

This has led to some cases of fraud, with applications which weren't really necessary being approved.

Under the new policy, applications for hiring foreign health care laborers will first pass through the Department of Health (DOH) for approval.

Then they will go to the Department of Social affairs under the MOI, which will spend two weeks seeing if a suitable domestic health care worker can be employed. From there, an application will go to the CLA.

The Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training under the CLA will hold a meeting with the DOH next week to discuss what and how assessment procedures will take place.

Lee said yesterday that currently, the MOI has trained around 9,000 Taiwanese national health care laborers, 4,000 of whom have licenses and 700 who are Aborigines.

Despite lowering the bar for the hiring of foreign health workers by eliminating the Barthel index, applications will still only be approved if a domestic worker cannot be found.

"Protecting the rights of Taiwanese national laborers is our first priority," Lee said.

Lee also said that agencies who hire Taiwanese nationals may be subsidized by the government to encourage local hiring. However, details of how that would take place are to be further discussed with the governing bodies involved, Lee said.
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