The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) is considering extending the maximum number of years foreign laborers are allowed to stay in Taiwan as part of efforts to address the problem of runaway workers.
The council recently met academics and labor experts, as well as representatives from labor unions and business groups, to discuss possible changes to foreign labor policies, which would take the maximum number of years foreign laborers are allowed to stay in Taiwan from nine years to 12.
The council’s Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training, which oversees businesses’ applications to hire foreign laborers, said one of the principal objectives of the proposed changes was to decrease the frequency with which foreign industrial laborers and stay-at-home caregivers flee their workplaces to become undocumented workers.
PHASING OUT
The council said an initial consensus had been reached among labor and business representatives to gradually phase out the limit on the number of years foreign laborers are allowed to stay in Taiwan to work. The first step would be to increase the maximum stay to 12 years, officials said.
Through this extension, the council hopes to minimize the incentive for foreign workers to run away, as they are more likely to be able to renew their work contract and stay with the same employer and do not have to face going back to their home country before they have earned enough money.
The number of foreign workers who are either missing, performing undocumented work or are on the run has risen in recent years. A report by the Control Yuan showed that the whereabouts of 32,927 foreign workers, from a total of 374,126, were unknown.
Council officials said the rising number of runaway foreign workers could create problems, as undocumented workers have no protections when their rights are not respected and they have no health or labor insurance.
The council said it would not draft its own amendments to the Employment Services Act (就業服務法) to extend the stay limit, as the same amendment had been outlined in a proposal by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文), which has been supported by the council.
CHANGING JOBS
Aside from extending foreign workers’ stays, the council also hopes to loosen restrictions on foreign workers wanting to change employers.
However, labor and business representatives were not able to reach a consensus on this issue. Business groups are concerned that this would indirectly encourage the growth of underground brokers and inject instability into the foreign labor workforce.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS