The Ministry of Labor (MOL) yesterday introduced two new disease prevention measures governing migrant workers in cooperation with the Central Epidemic Command Center to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
To minimize cross-border exchanges of personnel, the ministry called on employers to hire migrant workers who are already in Taiwan and not seek new ones from overseas, Deputy Minister of Labor Lin San-quei (林三貴) said.
About 100,000 migrant workers change employers in Taiwan each year, providing an ample supply of personnel, he said, adding that most are from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.
The ministry is to give a three-month extension to migrant workers whose permits are expiring, Lin said, adding that migrant workers at factories can remain in the nation for up to 12 years and caregivers 14 years.
Employers should advise migrant workers to cancel or delay any scheduled travel to their home nations, he said, adding that the ministry would use the Employment Security Fund to compensate for relevant expenses.
Workers who insist on returning to their home countries would be banned from re-entering Taiwan until the epidemic has been brought under control, he said.
Employers should take responsibility for the health management of migrant workers, he added.
The ministry is to replace lectures at airports for migrant workers with online versions and give them free masks upon entry so they can have protection before acquiring a work permit, Lin said.
Separately, some factories in Changhua County have required staff returning from Southeast Asia to self-manage their health for 14 days to minimize the potential of spreading COVID-19.
Current policies do not require people returning from Southeast Asian countries to undergo 14-day home quarantine, which has raised concern among some businesses, as up to 58,000 migrant workers from the region work in the county.
There are between 15,000 and 16,000 registered factories in the county, and if one factory worker contracts the coronavirus, the entire factory’s staff and their families would have to be tested and placed under 14-day home quarantine, which would halt operations, one factory owner said.
Some firms in traditional industries, such as plumbing, plastic injection molding and electroplating, have required their staff to remain in the nation in the short term unless there is an urgent need, sources said.
About 20 percent of Southeast Asian migrant workers in the county are caregivers, with the remainder working in factories, Changhua Department of Labor Affairs Director-General Wu Lan-mei (吳蘭梅) said.
Workers required to monitor their health for 14 days should still receive wages, Wu said, advising factory owners to negotiate with their workers to weather the difficulties together.
Changhua Public Health Bureau Director Yeh Yen-po (葉彥伯) said that employers have a legal basis to enforce strict disease prevention efforts, such as demanding that employees who return from abroad wear a mask or separating them from other staff to reduce the chances of direct exposure.
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