To address workforce shortages, revised regulations from yesterday allow companies in manufacturing, construction, agriculture and long-term care industries to hire more migrant workers, the Ministry of Labor said.
The number of migrant workers a company can hire in the seafood processing, tofu producing and shipbuilding industries increased from 15 percent to 20 percent of total employees, the ministry said, adding that the sectors are labor-intensive and cannot be automated.
The employment ratio can rise to up to 40 percent if the companies pay the government-run Employment Security Fund an employment security fee for every migrant worker hired, it said.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
The fund was established to improve labor welfare and handle employment and management affairs involving foreign nationals, it said.
To encourage the hiring of migrant workers already in Taiwan who might have lost their job, businesses in the manufacturing sector can apply for an additional flexible allocation that would allow migrant workers to make up a further 5 percent of a company’s workforce.
To access this additional allocation, employers would need confirmation from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industry Development Bureau and proof of job openings from public employment services agencies, it said, adding that an employment security fee of NT$2,000 per month for each foreign worker is required.
The number of migrant workers employed per company categorized as a “dirty, dangerous and demanding” industry must not exceed 40 percent of the total workforce, the ministry said.
Private construction companies previously could not employ migrant workers, but the new rules allow them to hire up to 8,000 migrant workers, with the potential to raise the quota to 15,000, the ministry’s Workforce Development Agency said.
Grade A, B and C construction companies, specialized construction firms and civil engineering companies that have fulfilled certain criteria in the past three years can hire migrant workers for up 30 percent of their workforces, it said.
Such companies can increase the ratio to 40 percent by paying the extra employment security fee, it added.
The quota for migrant workers in companies in the agricultural sector has doubled from 6,000 to 12,000, the ministry said, adding that the hiring ratio of local to migrant workers was raised to 1:1 for farming businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
For companies with 10 employees or more, migrant workers are limited to 35 percent of the total workforce, the ministry said.
Employers can increase the proportion to 40 percent by paying the extra employment security fee, it said.
The hiring ratio in social welfare institutions and long-term care facilities is based on licensed bed capacity, rather than the number of residents or available beds, the agency said.
The hiring ratio for social welfare institutions is one migrant worker for every three licensed beds, it said, while the ratio for long-term care facilities is one migrant worker for every five licensed beds.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
RSS