A coalition of migrant worker rights groups yesterday rallied outside the Ministry of Labor in Taipei on the eve of International Domestic Workers’ Day to urge the government to extend labor insurance coverage to approximately 200,000 migrant domestic workers in Taiwan.
Workers covered by labor insurance are entitled to benefits in cases of occupational injury, disability, death and childbirth. Employers with five or more employees are required to enroll them in the labor insurance program, and coverage is mandatory for migrant fishers.
Although many migrant workers in Taiwan are covered by labor insurance, domestic helpers and live-in caregivers have been excluded from the policy since Taiwan began recruiting such workers in 1992.
Photo: CNA
“We are workers who clean your homes, cook your meals and care for your children and elderly parents,” a Filipina live-in caregiver who asked to be identified as Carol said at the protest. “But when we get sick or injured, who will take care of us?”
Denying live-in caregivers, who often work long hours and physically assist elderly people, labor insurance protection is “unfair and inhumane,” Carol said.
Marni, an Indonesian worker from the migrant caregiver union Serikat Buruh Industri Perawatan Taiwan, said that live-in caregivers are only covered by Labor Occupational Accident Insurance, which partially reimburses medical expenses incurred from work-related injuries.
However, as domestic workers are not covered by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), they are not entitled to sick leave, she said.
That, combined with a lack of labor insurance, means they receive no income or benefits while recovering from major illnesses, putting their families’ financial well-being at risk, she said.
Other non-governmental organizations that joined the protest organized by the Domestic Caretaker Union included the Migrant Empowerment Network in Taiwan, the Rerum Novarum Center, the Serve the People Association and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.
In response, Chuang Kuo-liang (莊國良), deputy head of the Workforce Development Agency’s Cross-Border Workforce Management Division, said that employers with fewer than five employees can decide whether to provide insurance.
If the government were to require employers of domestic migrant workers to provide labor insurance, it would need to revise the Labor Insurance Act (勞工保險條例), Chuang said.
In that case, the government must consider the opinions of employers and workers, he said.
For now, the Ministry of Labor would continue to gather and carefully weigh opinions from workers and employers, he added.
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