More than 16,000 foreign workers in Taiwan have received funeral subsidies over the past five years for the death of a parent, spouse or child outside Taiwan, the Bureau of Labor Insurance said.
Bureau officials said foreign workers had the same rights as those enjoyed by Taiwanese, adding that according to international labor standards, there cannot be any discrimination against foreign workers, which led the bureau to amend the Labor Insurance Act (勞保條例) in 2002 to ensure this requirement was met.
Officials also said that because of the anti-discrimination rule, insurance rates for foreign workers were the same as those for Republic of China nationals and there were no plans to amend the laws.
Article 62 of the act stipulates that when an insured worker’s parents, children or spouse passes away, they can apply for funeral subsidies.
If the subsidy is for the death of a parent or spouse, the worker can receive up to three months of the amount paid for insurance each month, while in the case of the death of a child who is 12 years or older, the worker is entitled to two-and-a-half months. If the child is under 12 years old, the worker is entitled to one-and-a-half months of the average monthly insurance premium.
Statistics from the bureau showed that the number of -foreign workers filing for and receiving funeral subsidies had risen steadily over the past five years. In 2006, 2,600 requests were granted, amounting to a total of NT$160 million (US$ 5.5 million). This rose to 3,400 cases in 2007, a total of more than NT$200 million, and 4,000 in 2009, amounting to NT$250 million.
The bureau’s data showed a sharp drop to about 1,000 cases last year.
Officials at the bureau said the gradual increase in the number of applications and funds paid out each year was because the number of foreign workers in Taiwan had risen in recent years.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS