The Cabinet's Council of Labor Affairs yesterday released a new white paper on foreign labor policy, which states that foreign workers will suffer pay deductions for accommodation fees. The council insisted that restrictions on brokerage fees would lessen the deduction's impact.
To reduce employers' financial burdens, the council will permit accommodation fees of up to NT$4,000 to be deducted each month from the average foreign workers' monthly wage of NT$15,840.
The deduction, effective Nov. 9, is expected to save Taiwanese employers about NT$10 billion per year, said Kuo Feng-yu (郭芳煜), head of the council's employment and vocational training administration (職訓局).
Foreign caretakers and housekeepers will have to negotiate on the matter with prospective employers before accepting a new post.
"We do not suggest these deduction for domestic workers because they have no choice but to live with whom they work for," said Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良), a section chief from the same bureau.
Although not stipulated in any regulation, the council previously asked employers to provide free community accommodations for foreign workers.
The council argued that cuts in brokerage fees would compensate foreign workers for the new payments, which can total as high as NT$50,000 per year per worker for food and housing.
According to the council, foreign brokers should not charge more than NT$15,840 per worker.
Currently, in addition to legitimate fees of about NT$20,000, black market "fees" as high as NT$10,000 per month for as long as one year are often deducted from foreign workers' wages. The extra fees are classified as "loans" by brokers in the laborers' home countries, according to the council.
"The council has won the cooperation of the labor-exporting countries in regulating brokers' fees in foreign workers' home countries," Tsai said.
"Countries who do not respect Taiwan's regulations will suffer a freeze in their labor export quota to Taiwan," the council said.
Taiwan's 319,240 foreign workers hail primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The government is also negotiating with North Korea, India, Magnolia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka for the importation of labor.
Taiwanese brokers, meanwhile, will no longer be allowed to charge foreign workers brokerage fees. But monthly service fees for foreign workers will rise from the present NT$1,000 charge. Workers will have to pay local agents NT$1,800, NT$1,700 and NT$1,500 per month, respectively, during their first, second and third years.
Foreign workers used to pay their Taiwanese brokers a total of about NT$50,000 per contract. Many have also been saddled with other brokerage fees to compensate for kickbacks paid by Taiwanese labor brokers to employers.
The council will request that local employers stop accepting kickbacks from local brokers, as this money would still be recouped by employers through the new deductions from foreign laborers.
The report, framed in the context of conclusions reached by the Economic Development Advisory Conference in August, also points to the government's determination to control the number of foreign workers so as to ensure opportunities for Taiwanese workers, which has become a major issue since the unemployment rate soared past 5 percent earlier this year.
More restrictions were announced for Taiwanese seeking foreign housekeepers, but restrictions on foreigners in Taiwan wanting to hire non-Taiwanese domestic help were relaxed.
According to the report, foreigners employed by local companies whose personal yearly income exceeds NT$3 million or whose monthly income is over NT$250,000 can now apply for non-Taiwanese housekeepers.
"The relaxation is to encourage foreign professionals to contribute to the local economy and in response to requests from foreign business associations."
Previous regulations stipulated that foreigners with such income could only submit applications if they worked for foreign companies in Taiwan.
Expatriot executives whose foreign-based companies have investments of over NT$200 million in Taiwan or yearly business turnover exceeding NT$500 million can now hire foreign domestic help. In addition, general managers of foreign companies whose local investments exceed NT$100 million or whose yearly business turnover is over NT$1 billion, are also eligible.
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