If workers who previously received bailout loans are left unemployed again due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Labor should consider extending their repayment period or offering them a deduction, the New Power Party (NPP) caucus said yesterday.
The caucus urged the government to take steps to mitigate the effects of inflation and the pandemic on workers in a news conference in Taipei, ahead of International Workers’ Day on Sunday.
Helping workers who are struggling economically because of the pandemic is an urgent issue that the government should tackle as it is grappling with the COVID-19 outbreak, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said.
Photo: CNA
Last year, the number of hotel and restaurant workers was about 60,000 lower than in 2020, while art, entertainment and leisure service businesses reported a decline of about 25,000 workers, Chiu said.
The government’s policy to bail out financially strapped workers should be designed to protect low-income workers and those with minimal education, as they are more susceptible to the effects of the pandemic, he added.
“For example, the Bureau of Labor Insurance requires that bailout loan applicants begin paying back their loan on the seventh month after receiving the loan. However, many of them might default on the loan,” Chiu said. “It is not because they do not want to repay the loan, but they simply cannot afford it — either they have just found a new job or they have not earned enough to support themselves.”
While the government has offered unemployment subsidies over the past two years, some people received a full subsidy for up to a few months, while others only received a half subsidy, he said, adding that others did not qualify at all.
“We suggest that the Ministry of Labor extend the repayment period and offer a deduction to workers who received a bailout loan but have become unemployed again because of the pandemic,” Chiu said. “Article 16 of the Employment Insurance Act (就業保險法) stipulates that the ministry can request the Executive Yuan’s permission to extend the repayment period.”
The government should consider adjusting the minimum wage in view of rising inflation, which hurts blue-collar workers the most, he added.
NPP Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) said that the ministry is this week to determine whether workers can file to have labor insurance cover their medical payments if they are quarantined at home with mild COVID-19 symptoms.
“Taiwan now has more than 5,000 COVID-19 cases per day, and we should not let everyone flock to the hospitals to seek treatment or deliberately hide their symptoms because they do not want to have their salaries deducted for missing work,” Wang said.
Meanwhile, parents should be given paid leave when their children are asked to stay home from school or take classes online due to COVID-19, Wang said, adding that the caucus has received complaints from parents about the matter.
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