The Ministry of Labor has asked Indonesia and the Philippines to suspend demands for salary increases for domestic workers from the nations who are employed in Taiwan, saying the government had yet to reach a consensus on such hikes.
Manila and Jakarta unilaterally raised the minimum monthly wage for their nationals employed as domestic workers from NT$15,840 to NT$17,500 as of Wednesday last week, the ministry said.
Starting on that date, the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office in Taipei has refused to verify employers’ applications for domestic workers unless they offer a monthly wage of at least NT$17,500, the ministry said.
The Manila Economic and Cultural Office has attempted to force Taiwanese employers to increase salaries by interviewing employers or postponing the screening of their applications, the ministry said.
The actions of the Indonesian and Philippine governments have “seriously affected the rights of employers,” the ministry said, adding that it has sent official letters to the two trade offices asking that they suspend their wage increase measures until a consensus is reached with Taiwan.
Officials from the two offices were not immediately available for comment yesterday.
The minimum monthly wage for Taiwanese was raised to NT$20,008 on Wednesday last week, but foreign domestic workers are not paid that rate because they are not protected by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
These workers and their governments have long protested over long working hours and low wages.
The government has said that if the food and lodging that employers are required to provide foreign domestic workers is considered, their total compensation comes close to the minimum wage.
There are more than 220,000 foreign domestic workers and caregivers in the nation, most from Indonesia.
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