Several new policies are to go into effect on New Year’s Day, including the raised basic monthly wage, which would affect nearly 2 million workers, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
The increased basic monthly wage of NT$23,800, up from NT$23,100, would benefit 1.36 million local and 465,000 foreign workers, while the increased basic hourly rate of NT$158, up from NT$150, would benefit 483,000 local workers, it said.
To accommodate new rules on civil lawsuits in the Labor Dispute Act (勞動事件法), legal assistance would be provided to workers that have requested arbitration from courts or lodged a class action suit against their employers, it said.
The central government is also to increase subsidies for people who replace their old scooters manufactured before July 1, 2007, to reduce air pollution, the Executive Yuan said.
People who replace their old scooters with heavy-duty electric scooters or ones that meet Euro-7 emission standards next year would be eligible for a subsidy of NT$5,000, while those who replace old scooters with other types of electric scooters or electric bicycles would be eligible for NT$3,000, it said.
Separately, parents of two-year-olds would start receiving child-rearing subsidies after having previously been left out of the program, it said.
Families that send their two-year-olds to public kindergartens would receive between NT$3,000 and NT$7,000 a month depending on their financial capabilities, while families that send them to a semi-public kindergarten or use a “semi-public babysitter” would receive between NT$6,000 and NT$10,000, it said.
The subsidies are estimated to benefit about 16,000 families, it added.
In addition, government agencies would be allowed to use their discretion when giving social workers pay raises of up to NT$3,000, which, along with new rules that allow subsidies to be paid to social workers based on seniority, education level, work-related hazards and licenses, could increase the minimum monthly wage for a public social worker to NT$44,892.
The new salary and subsidy rules would benefit about 10,600 social workers, it added.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told agencies in charge of implementing the rules to promote the policies and enhance cross-departmental communication to ensure that people benefit from the new regulations.
In other changes, a ban on trading ivory products is to also take effect on Wednesday next week as part of the nation’s effort to promote international conservation of wild African elephants, the Council of Agriculture said.
A ban on selling and using the highly toxic herbicide paraquat would begin in February, following a previous ban on the weed killer’s processing and import in February last year, the council said.
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