Labor brokers that solicit placement fees from migrant workers would face heavy fines and penalties, the Ministry of Labor’s Workforce Development Agency said on Sunday.
Labor agencies that demand placement fees or so-called “job-buying fees” from migrant workers would be fined 10 to 20 times the amount they collect, the agency said in a statement.
Their operations could also be suspended for up to a year and they would not be allowed to renew their licenses when they expire, it said.
Brokers are only allowed to collect registration and introduction fees from employers, the total of which cannot exceed the amount of a migrant worker’s first month’s salary, it said.
The agency urged migrant workers to contact the ministry or local labor departments, or call the 1955 foreign workers’ hotline if they are asked to pay placement fees.
The ministry would approve employer or job change requests by migrants workers who file complaints, it added.
Agency section chief Hsueh Chien-chung (薛鑑忠) said the statement was issued in response to local Chinese-language media reports that a non-governmental organization in Hsinchu has received 30 to 40 complaints regarding brokers asking for placement fees.
As of the end of February, there were 719,487 migrant workers in Taiwan, of whom 279,412 were from Indonesia, 221,913 from Vietnam, 159,011 from the Philippines and 59,145 from Thailand, ministry data showed.
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