Foreign nationals with alien permanent resident certificates or work permits can now take part in a job program that aims to get unemployed people back to work amid a local COVID-19 outbreak, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday.
The ministry last year rolled out the “Peace of Mind Employment Plan,” which encourages the public and private sectors to offer part-time jobs to unemployed people aged 15 or older, as the nation battles rising unemployment due to the pandemic.
Under the program, workers are offered part-time jobs that pay NT$160 per hour for no more than 80 hours per month. The maximum a participant can earn per month is NT$12,800, with the ministry subsidizing their salaries.
The program was open only to Taiwanese and their foreign and Chinese spouses, but starting today, foreign nationals with permanent residency or a work permit can also apply to take part, the ministry said.
The ministry estimated that more than 12,000 foreign nationals would be eligible for the program.
Those who wish to join the program can visit the Chinese-language Web site special.taiwanjobs.gov.tw/internet/2020/pjbtwn/page-01.html and file an application.
The ministry on Tuesday also announced that it would soon begin offering subsidies of up to NT$20,000 to unemployed workers who find a new job.
An updated version of the Peace of Mind Employment Plan is to be rolled out on Monday next week, with new incentives to help unemployed people rejoin the workforce.
Under the current plan, employers who hire a person who has been involuntarily unemployed for at least 30 days through a government job center can receive a monthly subsidy of NT$5,000 for up to six months.
In the new version of the policy, employers would receive the same NT$30,000 maximum in subsidies over four months, while the requirement that a hiree must have been unemployed for more than 30 days would be removed, said Wu Shu-ying (吳淑瑛), an official at the Workforce Development Agency’s employment services division.
The main difference would be that involuntarily unemployed people would also be eligible for up to NT$20,000 in subsidies over four months if they find a new full-time job, Wu said.
Unemployed people who find part-time jobs would still be eligible for NT$10,000 over four months, while their employers would receive NT$15,000 over the same period, she said.
To qualify for the benefits, employers must register with the ministry’s Taiwan Jobs Web site, and must hire and enroll new employees onto the government’s labor insurance program by Sept. 30, Wu said.
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