Migrant workers in Taiwan, both industrial workers and domestic caregivers, earned more last year, a survey of employers released yesterday by the Ministry of Labor showed.
Migrant workers in the manufacturing and construction sectors earned an average monthly wage of NT$30,541 in June last year, the survey showed.
The figure, including an average regular wage of NT$24,603 and NT$5,396 in average overtime pay, was NT$1,958 more than the same month in 2020, due mainly to an average increase in overtime pay of NT$1,429.
Photo: CNA
Migrant workers in the industrial sector recorded a monthly average of 204.1 work hours — 167.7 hours of regular work and 36.4 overtime hours — marking an increase of 9.4 hours from the monthly average for 2020, the survey showed.
Regarding the management of migrant workers, 34.3 percent of Taiwanese employers surveyed said that they were bothered the most by language barriers, followed by poor hygiene habits and poor work attitudes or discipline.
Domestic care providers earned an average monthly wage of NT$20,209 in June last year, including an average regular salary of NT$17,563 and average overtime pay of NT$2,182, marking an increase of NT$291 from their average monthly salary a year earlier, the survey showed.
They worked 10 hours on average per day, and 98 percent of their Taiwanese employers paid them overtime.
About 73.6 percent of Taiwanese employers said they had other ways to look after the person in need if their caregivers took a break, mostly asking other family members to assist.
Nearly 40 percent of domestic caregiver employers said they would hire a Taiwanese caregiver on a temporary basis, with 51.4 percent of them willing to pay NT$500 to NT$1,200 per person per day based on a government subsidy program.
In terms of problems, 24.6 percent of Taiwanese employers said they were most troubled by language barriers when communicating with their caregivers, followed by them spending too much time on their cellphones and poor cooperation.
The ministry conducted the survey in July and August last year and obtained a total of 8,670 valid replies — 4,643 from companies in the manufacturing and construction sectors and 4,027 from employers of foreign caregivers.
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