The Executive Yuan today is expected to approve a proposal to expand the eligibility criteria for hiring foreign domestic helpers, allowing families with at least one child younger than 12 to apply from as early as April 13.
The Ministry of Labor is to present the proposal at an Executive Yuan meeting today, after Minister Without Portfolio Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and Workforce Development Agency official Su Yu-kuo (蘇裕國) yesterday outlined the finalized policy directions to reporters.
Regulations stipulate that a family must have at least three children younger than six, or four or more children younger than 12 with at least two children younger than six to meet the criteria for hiring a foreign domestic helper.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
There are only about 2,000 domestic helpers employed in households nationwide.
The eligibility criteria were considered too strict, so the Cabinet has relaxed the rules, Chen said.
Under the new regulations, families with one child younger than 12 would be eligible to apply for a foreign domestic helper, provided they pay the monthly NT$5,000 Employment Stability Fee, he said.
The criteria would also be relaxed to assist vulnerable families or those with special needs, Chen said, adding that the fee would be reduced by NT$2,000 for families that have a child younger than 12 with a rare disease, a disability or who is living in “special circumstances.”
The reduced fee would also be available to families with a child younger than six with developmental delays, single-parent families with a child younger than 12, families with a child younger than 12 where a parent has a disability, families with two children younger than 12 where at least one is younger than six and families with three children younger than 12, he said.
The ministry estimates that about 1.44 million families would become eligible for a foreign helper under the expanded rules, with applications to open as early as April 13, Su said.
Regarding whether the list of labor-source countries would be expanded, Su said the proposal is limited to relaxing the application criteria, so the source countries for foreign domestic helpers would remain the same — the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
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