A coalition of migrant worker groups and migrant rights organizations in Taiwan on Tuesday called on the government to take steps to improve the working conditions, including wages and work hours, for live-in migrant workers by drafting a household service act.
Currently, migrant workers who serve as live-in home help and caregivers are not covered by Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act, and as a result, average monthly salaries are much lower than Taiwan’s mandatory minimum monthly wage, the Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT), a coalition of migrant rights groups, said at a press conference held in front of the Ministry of Labor.
Taiwan’s basic minimum wage increased to NT$25,250 (US$890.93) a month on Jan. 1 but the average monthly minimum salary for live-in home help and caregivers remains NT$17,000, a record gap of NT$8,250, according to MENT.
In addition, live-in home help and caregivers are not entitled to two regular days off every seven days as stipulated in the Labor Standards Act.
Under the Act, workers who adjust their regular working hours shall have a minimum of one day of regular leave every seven days, and a minimum of four days’ rest every two weeks consisting of regular leave and rest days.
A total of 74.3 percent of live-in home help and caregivers said they did not take paid time off from work last year, and if COVID-19 is excluded, up to 34 percent, or about 70,000, reported they have not had paid days off over the past few years, according to MENT citing MOL statistics.
Currently, the wages of live-in home help and caregivers are paid by household employers, said Chen Jung-jou (???), a coordinator at Taiwan International Workers Association (TIWA), and in fact, many employers are unwilling or cannot afford to pay the minimum monthly wage for live-in caregivers.
A more practical approach would be for live-in caregivers to be included in the government’s long-term care service system and employed by long-term care facilities as that would provide legal protection and enable them to provide high-quality care services to those who need them and their employers.
Although TIWA has drafted an act governing household services in the hope of improving the labor conditions of live-in caregivers, the government has failed to propose such a bill over the past few years, Chen said.
What the Cabinet did do was approving a plan last month that allows foreign caregivers to apply for permanent residence within five years after meeting certain qualifications, she said.
Despite the high demand for caregivers, the government is reluctant to address the root problem as to why migrant caregivers are unwilling to stay in Taiwan — poor working conditions, according to Chen.
The best way to keep them in Taiwan is to improve working conditions by introducing a household service act to protect their rights.
This would include a minimum wage, restricted work hours, and detailed paid leave entitlements, enabling them to work for families covered by the long-term care system, Chen said.
In response, the Ministry of Labor said that because the duties, work hours, and rest hours of live-in home help and caregivers differ from workers at business entities, it is difficult to have live-in domestic service workers covered by the Labor Standards Act.
Regulations require live-in migrant workers to sign a contract with their employers and that should include provisions on rest time entitlements, such as a minimum of one day leave every seven days, the ministry added.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel