A ban on on-site factory dormitories is not to be imposed any time soon, because it would require amendments to the regulations, which must be preceded by inter-ministerial discussions, the Ministry of Labor said on Thursday.
Workforce Development Agency section head Hsueh Chien-chung (薛鑑忠) said the agency would have to coordinate with the Ministry of Economic Affairs on the amendments.
In May and June, various non-governmental organizations staged protests about worker housing safety issues, after two factory fires claimed the lives of nearly a dozen migrant workers in factory dorms this year.
One of the demands made by the protesters was for worker dormitories to be relocated a safe distance from factories.
The Ministry of Labor is working on new regulations to ban on-site factory dormitories and also to penalize businesses that do not implement proper safety measures for migrant workers, Hsueh said.
If approved by the legislature, the amendments to Articles 54 and 72 of the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) would lower the quota of foreign hires by five for every migrant worker death resulting from negligence by the company, he said.
In the case of injury to a migrant worker, the quota would be reduced by one worker for each incident, Hsueh said, adding that the ministry would provide more details next week.
There were 699,379 migrant workers in the nation as of last month, the latest government statistics showed.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
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