The minimum wage will increase by between 7.5 percent and 9.5 percent later this year, Council of Labor Affairs Chairman Lee Ying-yuan (
This will be the first minimum wage increase in a decade.
Lee confirmed the increase following a meeting held by the council's Basic Wage Deliberation Committee.
PHOTO: CNA
Lee also announced a change in the way the hourly minimum wage is calculated that will see it increase by more than 30 percent on top of the proposed increase.
The minimum wage is now set at NT$15,840 per month and NT$66 per hour.
Since the minimum wage was implemented 10 years ago, the consumer price index has risen by at least 7.3 percent and productivity has risen by 65.8 percent.
A increase of 7.5 percent would result in a monthly wage of NT$17,028, while an increase of 9.5 percent would bring it to NT$17,344.
The committee's recommendations will now go to the Executive Yuan, which will decide where in the range the actual minimum wage will fall.
Although the decision to raise the minimum wage was announced several months ago, the extent of the hike was not determined until yesterday's committee meeting.
After three-and-a-half hours of deliberation among the 22 committee members who include labor representatives, financial officials, academics and government officials, a compromise consensus was reached between sharply differing points of view.
"The committee members who represent labor wanted an increase of nearly 20 percent, while the committee members representing business wanted a increase of 5 percent," Lee said.
"However, all committee members agreed to the broad principle that the minimum wage is needed to make sure all workers can take care of their basic needs," Lee said.
Even before the extent of the minimum-wage increase and its manner of implementation has been determined, labor groups and legislators began blasting the labor council.
The Labor Rights Association staged a protest in front of the Executive Yuan earlier yesterday with demonstrators laying on blocks of ice to represent what they say is the cold manner in which Taiwan's workers are treated.
Wang Chien-ping (
"They cannot expect labor groups to be grateful for a modest increase that comes years too late," she said.
The 95 Youth Labor Union also protested outside the labor council yesterday, demanding a 35 percent hike in the minimum wage.
The committee also changed the way the hourly minimum wage is calculated. The NT$66 wage is now determined by assuming that each worker works eight hours for seven days each week, or 217 hours per month.
The new method for calculating the hourly wage takes weekends and paid holidays into account. This change alone will bring the hourly minimum wage to NT$87, even before it is increased in the range suggested by the committee.
"The minimum wage has not been rational for a long time," Lee said. "We will now finally make it more reasonable."
Another point of contention is how the minimum wage increase will affect foreign workers. Taiwan's 16,000 foreign workers working as domestic helpers will not benefit from the hike.
"The Labor Standards Law [勞基法] doesn't apply to domestic care workers," Vice Chairman of the Council of Labor Affairs Kuo Foung-yu (郭芳煜) said. "It does, however, affect foreign workers in the manufacturing and construction sectors."
Even those foreign workers covered by the Labor Standards Law might not get the full minimum wage, labor rights groups said, as employees are allowed to deduct food and lodging expenses from their employees' salaries.
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS