The latest figures released by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) indicate that about 40 percent of callers to the council’s 1955 hotline for foreign worker assistance and consultation speak Indonesian and have questions about employment contracts.
The toll-free, 24-hour hotline was launched on July 1 last year.
During the first six months of the service, more than 40,000 calls were received from foreign workers, employers and others, the council said.
JOINT EFFORT
The hotline, a joint effort between the council, Chunghwa Telecom and the Garden of Hope Foundation, answers questions about foreign workers’ contracts, salaries, working hours and work injuries.
It provides mediation services for foreign workers, employers and other members of the public.
Service operators mainly speak English, Vietnamese, Indonesian or Thai. Council figures showed that about 42 percent of callers spoke Indonesian, followed by Vietnamese at about 33 percent and Filipino about 11 percent.
Of the more than 40,000 calls placed to the hotline, about 28,000 concerned employment contracts, including fees for returning to one’s home country or changing employers. Other frequently asked questions involved wages, tax payments, brokerage fees and employers holding onto workers’ identification documents.
IMMEDIATE HELP
More than half of all calls were made during regular office hours, while the rest were made at night or on weekends.
Council officials said it was important for the hotline to be open at night and on weekends to ensure that workers have access to immediate information when problems arise.
The hotline is free of charge from landline phones, mobile phones or public phones using IC cards.
Foreign workers who are locked in disputes with their employers, have been treated unfairly or have been physically abused can call the hotline to report abuse and ask the authorities to investigate.
In the event that workers run into legal problems or need shelter, the hotline will provide legal consultation or help refer workers to a temporary shelter.
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
RSS