Restrictions on hiring live-in caregivers from overseas are to be eased starting today, the Ministry of Labor said.
Some people who need full-time care would no longer have to undergo a functionality assessment using the Barthel Index to be eligible to hire foreign caregivers, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The Barthel Index measures a person’s ability to complete daily activities and is an important threshold regarding whether a family can hire a foreign caregiver.
Photo: CNA
From today, people who have had long-term care for at least six months and those who have been diagnosed with mild dementia would be exempt from Barthel Index requirements for hiring a foreign caregiver, the ministry said.
Until now, elderly and severely ill people were required to undergo a Barthel Index assessment conducted by a hospital if their family wanted to hire a foreign caregiver, with the exception of those categorized as having “specific disabilities.”
The category of “specific disabilities,” which includes people with significant physical or mental limitations, would be expanded to include people with mild physical disabilities, as well as people dealing with rare diseases, severe respiratory disorders or a loss of swallowing function.
People aged 75 or older who hold a disability certificate that is valid for an unlimited period and have already hired a foreign caregiver would be exempt from undergoing a Barthel Index assessment if their caregiver’s contract expires and they need a new caregiver.
Meanwhile, the ministry said that it would also be easing the rules covering the eligibility of migrant workers in some sectors to apply for “intermediate skilled worker” status.
Paul Su (蘇裕國), head of the Cross-Border Work-force Management Division under the ministry’s Workforce Development Agency, said that the new rules for workers would also be implemented from today.
Migrant workers had been required to work for the same employer for six consecutive years to become eligible for the program.
The easing of rules would allow migrant workers to apply for “intermediate skilled worker” status after working for the same employer for six cumulative years, even if they are not consecutive, the ministry said.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from
RESOLVE: The increased expenditure, if approved by the legislature, would likely see Taipei buying more defense articles from Washington, reducing its trade surplus The government aims to increase defense spending to at least 3 percent of GDP this year, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, hours after US President Donald Trump again threatened tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors. At a news conference in Taipei following his first high-level national security meeting this year, Lai said the government would propose a special budget this year to increase the nation’s defense spending to more than 3 percent of GDP. “Taiwan must firmly safeguard its national sovereignty, strengthen its resolve for self-defense and bolster its defense capabilities,” he said. The president also vowed to double down on defense reforms and