It is illegal for employers to sack foreign workers who are pregnant, have given birth or are raising children while working in Taiwan, the Ministry of Labor said on Wednesday.
Violators will have their employment permits revoked and may be fined up to NT$1.5 million (US$49,741), Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) said in a report to the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.
The committee had invited ministry officials for discussions on the impact of foreign workers who give birth in Taiwan on the nation’s population policy.
The ministry said in August last year that pregnancy tests have been removed from a list of medical examinations required of foreign workers, out of respect for mothers and human rights.
The Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法) and the Regulations Governing Management of the Health Examination of Employed Aliens (外國人健康檢查管理辦法) prohibit employers from discriminating against or firing foreign workers if they are pregnant or give birth during their employment in Taiwan.
Employers are also banned from terminating their contracts with foreign workers early, or forcing them to leave the country if they are pregnant or give birth.
The ministry said that if foreign workers give birth during their employment and are capable of raising their children, they can stay in Taiwan, along with their children.
If they are mistreated by their employers, they can call the toll-free hotline 1955 for help, it said.
The ministry added that it has approved a proposal to subsidize institutions or foster homes that agree to look after non-Taiwanese children abandoned by their mothers after birth.
The planned subsidies, which are set to begin on June 1, will be NT$17,500 per month for each child, the ministry said, estimating that 45 children would qualify for the placement this year, for a total cost of NT$5.5 million.
Lin said the new measure was brought up at the request of the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Consultant Committee and the Executive Yuan to give humanitarian assistance to non-Taiwanese children whose mothers abandon them or are unwilling to take them back to their home countries.
Lin rebutted media reports that the government plans to spend NT$2 billion per year caring for children of foreign workers.
According to government data, from 2007 to last month, the number of children born to foreigners — including white-collar workers, students and migrant workers — exceeded 7,000.
As of Jan. 31, 121 non-Taiwanese children had been placed in social welfare institutions, including 45 whose mothers had either left Taiwan or could not be found, the data showed.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS