The minimum wage next year is to increase to NT$26,400 (US$865) per month and NT$176 per hour, benefiting about 2.33 million Taiwanese, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday.
The statement came after the ministry convened a Basic Wage Commission meeting to finalize the plan to raise the current monthly minimum wage of NT$25,250 by 4.56 percent.
The plan is to be sent to the Executive Yuan for approval.
Photo: Lee Ching-hui, Taipei Times
Ministry data showed that 1.75 million workers would benefit from the monthly salary increase, including 1.27 million employees in the public sector and 484,300 migrant workers.
The increase in the minimum wage and the rate of labor insurance premiums would increase labor insurance premiums covered by employers, employees and the government.
The monthly wage increase would increase costs for employees, employers and the government by NT$1.041 billion, NT$19.124 billion and NT$1.117 billion respectively, the ministry said.
About 574,600 employees would benefit from the increase in the hourly minimum wage, which would increase the insurance costs for employees, employers and the government by NT$362 million, NT$6.309 billion and NT$431 million respectively, the ministry said.
In total, raising the minimum wage would increase cost for employees, employers and the government by NT$1.403 billion, NT$25.433 billion and NT$1.548 billion respectively, the ministry said.
The rate of labor insurance premiums next year would be raised to 12 percent, including 1 percent for employment insurance.
Employers, employees and the government would pay 70 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent of labor insurance premiums respectively.
If a worker earns a monthly wage of NT$26,400, the cost of the employment insurance borne by the employer, the employee and the government would increase by NT$185, NT$53 and NT$26 respectively.
General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC (全國商業總會) chairman Paul Hsu (許舒博) yesterday urged local firms not to raise prices after the minimum wage increase, saying that such a move would add inflationary pressure.
Hsu told a media briefing in Taipei that the government should implement measures to help small and medium-sized companies deal with rising costs so they would not have to place employees on unpaid leave.
Even though the minimum wage increase was higher than the 3 percent raise expected by local trade associations, the groups would still accept it, Hsu said.
Additional reporting by Kao Shih-ching
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
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft