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.
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