On 7 June, labor minister Hsu Ming-Chun chaired her first National Labor Authorities Executives Contact Meeting, which focused on discussing recently emerging problems with the welfare of foreign workers. The Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor presented a report on the improvement of welfare for foreign workers and discussed it with the heads of local Labor Affairs Bureaus. It was decided that in the short term projects would be checked, welfare regulations amended, and major violations penalized in anticipation of response measures in the future. The Ministry of Labor stated that three measures on the reinforcement of welfare for foreign workers will be implemented:
1. Project inspections will be carried out by agencies together. These inspection will concentrate on fire and building safety, occupational safety and health at on major businesses and high-risk residences as well as foreign worker management units. (The inspections will aim at employers with more than 30 foreign workers, factories sharing the same address with dorms, and foreign workers’ complaints regarding welfare made to the 1955 hotline over the past three years .) The inspections aim to urge employers to fulfill their welfare management responsibilities and will start as soon as possible after the project inspection meeting on 8 June 2018.
2. The Ministry of Labor will conduct an overall review (including food and dormitories) on the discretion standard of the welfare service for foreign workers in the business field. The Ministry of Labor has already collected practical implementation issues and suggestions from local governments. Suggestions about separating factories and dormitories as proposed by migrant worker groups will be included in the proposals and reviewed in an inter-departmental discussion meeting since it involves factory management by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the building safety management by the Ministry of the Interior.
3. Under current regulations, local governments must demand employers in breach of foreign workers welfare regulations to improve their welfare within a specific period of time; failure to do so will result in a fine for employer. Considering the fact that violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Labor Inspection Act, Fire Services Act, and Building Act have different implications, the Ministry of Labor will amend regulations as soon as possibleEmployers failing to fulfill the welfare responsibilities resulting in foreign workers deaths or partial or complete loss of working abilities or other severe violations, will be penalized directly. The punishment aims to urge employers to implement improvements.
The Ministry of Labor further stated that in addition to the three reinforcement measures, it aims to urge local governments to increase their inspection capacity. Therefore, the Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor convened a meeting on 24 May 2018 with local governments where it announced subsidies for hiring additional staff to carry out inspections and offer consultation to foreign workers. It is expected that 75 additional staff will be hired under this subsidy scheme.
Furthermore, migrant worker groups requested to have multiple language versions of foreign workers welfare regulations. The Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor will publish regulations in English, Vietnamese, Thai, and Indonesian on 1 June 2018 and post them on the foreign workers rights section of the Workforce Development Agency website (https://fw.wda.gov.tw/wda-employer/), where foreign workers and Taiwanese can download them. The regulations in multiple languages can help foreign workers better understand these regulations and their rights. The Ministry of Labor appeals to employers to arrange proper welfare for their foreign workers, including food, residence, and management.
Foreign workers experiencing welfare issues with their employers can call the 24-hour 1955 Counseling and Protection Hotline for Foreign Workers for help and protection of their rights and interests.