The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) will convene a meeting at the end of this month to study whether it should allow foreign workers to switch employers freely as a way of reducing the number who run away from their jobs.
Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) made the remarks after a fatal accident at a construction site on the No. 6 Freeway in Nantou County on Thursday. Six of the victims were later found to be Indonesian workers who had absconded from their legal jobs
Foreign workers on public construction projects reportedly have to spend at least half of their permitted time in Taiwan — 18 months — simply to pay back their labor brokerage fees. Some are even forced to return to their countries before they have repaid these fees, which encourages them to leave their jobs and seek illegal work.
Foreign labor rights groups believe that the main reason foreign workers run away is because they cannot switch employers freely. For this reason, what the government should do is allow them to switch employers freely, the groups said.
Wang said the matter will be discussed at a meeting on foreign labor policy later this month.
To protect the rights of employers, if the policy is put into -practice, there will also need to be complementary measures, such as a requirement to give the original employer notice of three months or longer so that they have time to find a replacement.
At present, foreign workers can switch jobs and are not subject to restrictions of region or sector. For example, a foreign caregiver in Pingtung can switch jobs to work in a factory in Taoyuan.
However, as a change of job requires the consent of both the original and prospective employers, if the employers do not agree to the switch, foreign workers still find that the easiest option is to leave their original job and work illegally.
Human rights advocates have therefore asked for a further easing of restrictions, allowing foreign workers to more easily switch jobs.
According to Ku Yu-ling (顧玉玲), president of the Taiwan International Workers’ Association, those foreign workers who are able repay their brokerage fees are the lucky ones.
She said that many factories in Taiwan closed during the financial crisis that began two years ago and that many foreign workers lost their jobs after just a few months, leaving them heavily in debt.
Ku said foreign workers have to pay on average between NT$80,000 and NT$250,000 in brokerage fees, and added that according to the results of a survey, foreign workers have to spend at least 18 months “working for nothing.”
In addition, a large number of foreign workers employed as caregivers reportedly have to work very long hours.
These caregivers are nominally employed only to take care of patients, but are often also expected to clean and cook, with no time off.
Foreign workers homes are divided into two groups — housemaids and caregivers. However, the conditions for employing a housemaid are strict and only about 2,000 families in meet the requirements.
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