Slightly more than half of working teenagers are paid less than the minimum wage, a recent survey by the Taiwan Alliance for Youth Rights showed.
The group said that 52 percent of teenagers who work — mostly in part-time positions in restaurants and retail shops — received wages lower than the minimum requirement of NT$115 per hour, including half who earned less than NT$100 per hour.
Among 2,925 workers aged 15 to 18 who took the survey late last year, 40 percent said their employers provided required labor insurance coverage, while 23 percent reported their employers docking their pay at least once over the previous year.
Low salaries were most common in central and southern Taiwan, affecting 68 percent of working teens in Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan; and 66 percent in Taichung, Nantou and Changhua.
Labor regulations make it illegal for employers to hire people under the age of 15, while those aged between 15 and 16 years old are entitled to at least 70 percent of the minimum wage — a much-criticized regulation which was established in 1984.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Labor said it plans to revise the clause to safeguard the rights of teenagers.
Youth advocacy groups yesterday said that low wages among teens indicate a tendency among employers to take advantage of people who lack legal knowledge.
They said that teenagers are often reluctant to file reports against employers about violations of labor regulations because they are not familiar with legal channels and out of fear for their job security.
Alliance secretary-general Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said that many teenagers assume they receive low wages because they are underage, with more than 60 percent willing to accept low wages.
She urged the government to increase the scope and scale of labor inspections, establish channels for teenagers to file appeals on labor violations and raise awareness of work regulations through educational programs.
Jerry Lin (林哲寧), who heads a career preparation organization for disadvantaged youth, said employers often take advantage of teenagers by fining them for mistakes or, in some cases, neglecting to pay wages at all.
“One time a teenager went missing after we filed a report on his employer, but authorities found two runaway migrant workers instead,” Lin said, adding that disadvantaged teenagers often job-hopped among positions in night markets and late night stir-fry restaurants.
Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Deputy Director-General Hsieh Chien-chien (謝倩蒨) said that failing to pay the minimum wage — regardless of the employee’s age — warranted a fine of between NT$20,000 and NT$300,000 per case, adding that the employer would be required to compensate for all unpaid wages and labor insurance coverage.
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