The minimum wage will be ratcheted up substantially this year after remaining unchanged for a decade, Council of Labor Affairs Chairman Lee Ying-yuan (
"The minimum wage must be increased to ensure social justice and economic efficiency. A disproportionate amount of the fruits of economic growth has been allocated to capital, rather than labor," he said.
Lee made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature's Sanitation, Environment and Social Welfare Committee, where he was alternately praised for his commitment to labor rights, questioned over how the increased minimum wage might affect the nation's business environment and lambasted for not having completed the overhaul of the labor insurance system.
For the past 10 years, the monthly minimum wage has remained at NT$15,840 per month, or an average hourly wage of NT$66. Meanwhile, the country's economy and cost of living have both grown year after year, Lee said.
"An increasing number of workers are being paid on an hourly basis. Their minimum wage needs to be raised even more than the minimum wage of regular workers, as they miss out on many benefits such as paid days off," he said.
When questioned by legislators over exactly how much the minimum wage would rise, Lee said that the figure was still under discussion.
"We are going to work towards making the minimum wage approach 40 percent of the average wage," he said.
According to the council, the nation's average monthly wage is NT$44,107, so 40 percent would amount to NT$17,642.
Roughly 500,000 workers are currently employed at minimum wage, Lee said, adding that if minimum wage levels were raised to NT$17,642, the wages of around 2 million people would go up.
"We need to consult further with the Ministry of Economic Affairs as well as small and medium business representatives," Lee said. "We need to make sure we remain competitive with countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore. We also want to make sure that the change is not too rapid, which would cause an unnecessary shock to our economy."
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
"I have been in communication with businesses and they assure me that anything bigger than a 5 percent increase to the minimum wage would be intolerable," Lai said.
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