Taiwan is in talks with countries that supply migrant workers following an announcement in April that it would allow dairy farms to hire migrant workers on a trial basis.
The move is part of an effort to help address the country’s farm labor shortage, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said.
Hsu said last week that the Ministry of Labor launched the trial program to allow Taiwanese dairy farms to employ foreign workers from developing economies.
No workers have arrived in Taiwan yet because their employment contracts have not been verified by their home countries.
Hsu said that representatives from Thailand and Indonesia have made fact-finding visits to Taiwan to gain an understanding of Taiwan’s employment of agricultural workers.
According to the ministry, to protect migrant workers’ rights, their home countries require their employment contracts to be verified before allowing their workers to be employed abroad.
To date, Thailand has begun the process of contract verification, while Indonesia has agreed to allow its workers to take up employment in Taiwan’s agricultural sector and has given a sample employment contract to be reviewed by the ministry.
Taiwan has also reached a consensus with the Philippines on the employment of migrant farm workers, with the details still being discussed, the ministry said.
The ministry is also in talks with Vietnam on these matters, it added.
Taiwan currently has more than 700,000 migrant workers, ministry data showed.
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