Migrant workers might no longer have to leave the country every three years if a proposal by the Ministry of Labor now under review by the legislature is passed.
If passed, the measures would take effect next year.
The ministry said it has drafted an amendment to the Employment Service Act (就業服務法), which currently limits migrant workers — including industrial laborers, marine workers and household caretakers — to a maximum of 12 years in Taiwan, and requires them to leave for at least one day every three years.
Ministry officials said the move would benefit households with elderly or disabled people, who often struggle during the absence of their foreign caretaker.
The new measure would also save migrant workers travel expenses and an average of NT$24,000 in brokerage fees.
Chinese National Federation of Industries secretary-general Tsai Lien-sheng (蔡練生) said the proposed revision “should have been made long ago,” adding that skilled workers with more than three years of experience were highly valued by businesses.
However, labor activists said complementary measures should be added to ensure workers’ rights to home visits and holidays, as migrant workers often use their mandatory departure times to return home for a visit.
“We would not want migrant workers to be forced to forgo visiting home for 12 straight years,” activist Chang Feng-yi (張烽益) said. “Caretakers who work for Taiwanese households are more likely to suffer from a lack of holidays than industrial workers, since they are not covered by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).”
Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) yesterday said at the Legislative Yuan that in light of the proposed amendment, migrant workers’ contracts in the future could include home visit rights.
Taiwan has about 520,000 migrant workers, mostly from Southeast Asia, Ministry of the Interior statistics show.
When Taiwan first allowed migrant laborers in 1989, concerns over immigration problems led to policies requiring migrant workers to leave the country periodically.
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