The Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Wednesday hosted a meeting of labor groups and employment agencies to resolve their differences in opinion regarding service fees for migrant workers who want to renew their contracts after three years in Taiwan.
Labor brokers are not allowed to charge migrant workers another placement fee if they wish to renew their contracts after three years of employment, the ministry said.
That practice was banned in an amendment to the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) in 2016, which also lifted the requirement for blue-collar foreign workers to leave the country after three years.
However, many labor brokers in Taiwan have been urging the government to reconsider, citing rising operating costs as a major factor.
Brokers wanted the ban on a second placement fee revoked because of the time and costs involved in the contract renewal process, Workforce Development Agency Director-General Huang Chiu-kuei (黃秋桂) said after the meeting.
According to the Migrant Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT), foreigners seeking to renew their contracts in Taiwan are typically charged a service fee of NT$20,000 to NT$100,000 by labor agencies, even though such fees are banned if a worker has completed a previous contract or is renewing their contract with their current employer.
It is commonplace for brokers in Taiwan to charge the fee, known by migrant workers as “job-buying fees,” especially following the 2016 amendment to the Employment Service Act, MENT said.
The illegal practice is so pervasive that agencies know exactly how to avoid getting caught, MENT said, adding that it has brought up the issue with the ministry on many occasions, but nothing has been done.
Taiwan International Workers’ Association member Chen Hsiu-lien (陳秀蓮) said that brokers who complain about rising operating costs should disclose to the public the exorbitant fees they charge employers and migrant workers.
The ministry said it would continue its efforts to help bridge the two groups’ differences.
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with counties that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
ORIGIN UNKNOWN: The Leofoo Village Theme Park and Taipei Zoo have accounted for their baboons, as authorities continue a 12-day capture attempt Authorities in Taoyuan are searching for a non-native baboon, possibly of the chacma species, that has been spotted several times in the city’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) over the past 12 days, and was most recently seen in coastal Sinwu District (新屋). The baboon was first spotted near a local factory on March 10 in central Taoyuan, Jhensing Borough Warden Huang Chih-chieh (黃志杰) said. Huang said he requested the Leofoo Village Theme Park’s help after a second sighting on Saturday. In other sightings, the baboon raided fruit and vegetable gardens on private property, and has evaded one capture attempt via a tranquilizer dart. Media reported
RSS