A law giving foreign domestic workers at least one day off a week has been drafted, Deputy Minister of Labor Lin San-quei (林三貴) said yesterday, adding the draft is still being reviewed by the Cabinet.
Lin made the comment following the release of a US Department of State report saying that migrant domestic helpers and live-in caregivers in Taiwan are not ensured at least one day off per week, preventing them from participating in religious activities.
The 2015 International Religious Freedom Report, released on Wednesday, said that domestic service workers and caregivers in Taiwan are not covered under the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and are therefore not legally guaranteed a weekly rest day. Because of this many domestic workers are not able to attend religious services.
Unlike the report issued in previous years, last year’s report highlighted that Taiwanese authorities view this as a labor issue, not a religious freedom issue.
Religious leaders continued to raise concerns that the law does not guarantee a day off per week for the about 225,000 domestic workers and caregivers, and thus limited their ability to attend religious services, the report said.
Lin said that as the draft is still pending approval, the Ministry of Labor hopes that a weekly day off for foreign domestic workers could be stipulated in their contracts for the time being.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
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