Insured people are likely to be required to hire a licensed caregiver to qualify for insurance payments under a long-term care insurance system scheduled to be introduced in 2011, an expert participating in the planning of the system said on Saturday.
The requirement will mean that the current practice of hiring unlicensed foreign workers to work as caregivers for a family member will have to be changed once the new system is implemented, said Yang Chih-liang (楊志良), vice president of Asia University and a member of the Council for Economic Planning and Development’s planning panel.
PAY DIFFERENTIAL
Insurance payments for people hiring foreign caregivers will probably be only half of the payment given to those who hire licensed local workers, Yang said while attending a conference in Taipei organized by the Taiwan Long-term Care Professional Association.
The restrictions are intended to prevent an influx of foreign caregivers after the launch of the long-term care insurance system, which would reduce salaries and undermine the competitiveness of local caregivers, he said.
The current average hourly wage of NT$180 for professional caregivers is already considered so low that few Taiwanese are willing to enter the profession, Yang said.
Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) statistics show that Taiwan has 160,000 foreign workers are working as family caregivers and there are 30,000 licensed Taiwanese caregivers.
REQUIREMENTS
People interested in becoming certified as a caregiver must complete a 90-hour training course and pass the licensing exam for a license, the council said.
Many families prefer hiring foreign workers because their monthly salary of around NT$20,000 is lower than the minimum NT$30,000 required by local caregivers.
In addition to tending sick and elderly family members, foreign workers are frequently expected to take care of their employer’s children and do domestic chores — work that a professional caregiver will not do.
Taiwan Long-term Care Professional Association secretary-general Chai Wen-ying (翟文英) said the new regulations would increase the pressure on foreign labor brokers.
“It will make their jobs more difficult because they need to look for foreign laborers who possess the necessary licenses for nursing services, or they have to train them to pass our exams for the license,” Chai said.
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