Taiwan will have to overcome numerous challenges to reverse the low labor participation rate of middle-aged and elderly people, despite a draft act the Cabinet approved last month, experts said.
The bill, which covers rules allowing employers to offer contracts to workers aged 65 or older, increases the flexibility of existing regulations, which include mandatory retirement at 65.
The new rules are a legislative breakthrough and should boost re-employment and improve the labor force participation rate, said Hsin Ping-lung (辛炳隆), an associate professor at National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of National Development.
However, under the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), the fixed-term contracts outlined in the draft are only permitted for certain types of jobs, while the relaxation of age restrictions could lead to employers cutting labor costs by hiring older people instead of younger workers, Hsin said.
Yang Tsung-bin (楊宗斌), a spokesman for online job bank yes123, said that the government should create a friendlier employment market for middle-aged and elderly people by revising regulations or adopting measures to encourage employers to hire them, such as through the provision of subsidies.
Clear-cut regulations governing new contracts for older people need to be formulated, including contract terms that are at least one year in duration, to ensure that their experience is passed on to younger employees, Yang said.
In response to the relatively low labor force participation rate of those aged 55 or over amid a rapidly aging population, the Cabinet on July 19 approved a draft act that would allow employers to hire people aged at least 65 on fixed-term contracts while ensuring that they are given fair employment opportunities.
The bill stipulates that employers cannot subject people to unfair treatment because of their age. Discrimination refers to disadvantageous actions taken against job applicants or employees related to their recruitment, job allocation, performance evaluation, promotion, training, wages and benefits, retirement or redundancy payments.
The draft proposes fines ranging from NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million (US$9,561 to US$47,807) for breaches of age discrimination rules.
Middle-aged workers are defined as those aged 45 to 65, while elderly workers are those over 65, the draft rules say.
Last year, about 4.6 million middle-aged or elderly people were working in the private sector — an increase of about 1.01 million from 10 years earlier — with about 280,000 of those aged 65 or older, data compiled by the Ministry of Labor showed.
Yu Ai-chun (余璦君), director of the ministry’s Senior Workforce Development Service Center in New Taipei City, said that since the center was established five years ago, it has helped 7,000 middle-aged and elderly people return to the workplace and matched 4,000 of them with employers.
Taiwan has one of the lowest birthrates in the world and its society is rapidly aging.
The Ministry of the Interior last year announced that Taiwan had officially become an “aged society,” with those aged 65 or over accounting for 14.05 percent of the population.
The National Development Council expects Taiwan to become a “super-aged society” — defined as at least 20 percent of the population being 65 or older — by 2026.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
RSS