Taiwan’s minimum wage is to be raised by 5 percent, effective Jan. 1, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday.
The directive would increase the minimum monthly wage from NT$24,000 to NT$25,250 and the minimum hourly wage from NT$160 to NT$168, the ministry’s Minimum Wage Review Committee said.
The increases are pending approval by the Cabinet, which has in most cases in the past followed the committee’s recommendation.
Photo: CNA
The increases came close to wage hikes urged by labor groups, which called for 6 to 8 percent.
One business group had urged that the minimum wage should not be increased by more than 3 percent.
The Chinese National Federation of Industries, which represents 159 business associations in Taiwan, on Thursday issued a statement saying that mandatory increases would affect small and medium-sized businesses that have not yet recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) at the time said that once the minimum wage increase is confirmed, the government would draft plans to provide subsides to companies affected by the pandemic, without elaborating on the details.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday wrote on Facebook that next year’s increase would be the sixth consecutive minimum wage increase since she took office in 2016.
The government has implemented measures to help industries affected by COVID-19 adapt their employees’ wages accordingly, she said.
With the pandemic largely under control in Taiwan, “we will next focus our efforts on revitalizing the economy,” she said.
The Minimum Wage Review Committee comprises government officials responsible for labor and economic affairs, and representatives of unions and the private sector, as well as academics.
It is legally required to hold a minimum wage review meeting in the third quarter of every year.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique