An announcement by ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控) ordering its migrant workers to move from private rented accommodation to company dormitories is in line with Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) regulations, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Saturday.
The “temporary measures” adopted by the IC packaging and testing company “are in accordance with epidemic prevention requirements set by the CECC,” the ministry’s Industrial Development Bureau said in a statement.
By stepping up regulation of worker accommodation, the company hopes to prevent more migrant workers contracting COVID-19, the statement said.
Photo: Lin Jin-hua, Taipei Times
The statement did not specify which CECC regulations the company was following. A set of guidelines released by the CECC in March advising companies how to operate in the event a COVID-19 outbreak does not mention dormitory management.
Guidelines issued by the bureau on Monday last week state that companies operating assembly lines should divide workers into groups. Different groups should use different restrooms, locker rooms and shuttle buses, and those in the same group should live in the same dormitory or building, if such accommodation is provided by the company, the bureau’s guidelines say.
The statement came after the Guardian on Friday reported that ASE had ordered migrant workers who are employed at its plant in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) and living in private rented accommodation to move back to company dormitories immediately or face a “major demerit.”
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