The Taiwan Employers Association today (15th) released the "Taiwan People's Satisfaction Survey on the Foreign Labor Policy of the Ministry of Labor", which took 10 months to conduct. The results showed that as many as 94.3% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the current migrant worker policy, 97.6% of the respondents agreed to establish a foreign worker elimination mechanism, and 94.5% agreed that missing migrant workers could leave the country. After that, they are not allowed to come to work in Taiwan again. 86.4% do not agree that the missing persons will be "legal in place" after accepting punishment. The employers' association proposed eight major suggestions to the Ministry of Labor, including reforming employment security fees, paralleling rewards and punishments for legal employment and retention, establishing a transparent system for foreigners' related financial burdens and benefits, and studying a special law on foreigners' affairs and an inter-ministerial coordinating mechanism.
Zhang Hengyan, chairman of the Taiwan Employers Association, pointed out that the questionnaire survey research team lasted nearly ten months from January 16 to October 11 this year, using a voluntary response method in two stages, and collected a total of 2,534 valid questionnaires. The results showed that 89.5% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the Ministry of Labor’s current immigration policy; in the second stage, the dissatisfaction rate reached 94.3%, and the average scores of the six policy evaluations were all lower than those in the first stage.
Among various policy evaluations, 89.4% were dissatisfied with the way the Employment Stability Fund was handled, followed by 88.6% dissatisfied with the proactiveness of the Immigration Department in detecting illegal migrant workers, and 88.2% were dissatisfied with the way in which illegal and criminal cases involving migrant workers were investigated. Another 86.9% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the professional performance of Minister of Labor Hong Shenhan, and 85% were dissatisfied with the family-based foreign care system.
Regarding the management of lost migrant workers, the survey showed that 97.6% of the respondents supported the establishment of a mechanism to eliminate evil behaviors of foreign workers, 94.5% agreed that lost migrant workers should not come back to work in Taiwan after leaving the country, and 93.3% supported the establishment of a reward and retention mechanism for migrant workers who abide by their contracts and perform well. In comparison, 86.4% disagreed that missing migrant workers could become legal after being punished, while only 6.9% agreed.
In terms of the cost of hiring migrant workers, 80.4% of the respondents agreed that employment security fees should be paid by migrant workers rather than employers, 85.5% agreed that commercial medical insurance should replace health insurance to handle the medical expenses of migrant workers, 79.1% disagreed that foreign migrant workers should be covered by labor insurance on the same basis as domestic workers, and 75.5% disagreed that family employers should be required to purchase labor insurance for family caregivers who do not apply to the Labor Standards Act.
The fishery representatives present today, including the owner of the Changlai vessel, Lu Tingyu, and the owner of the Quan Ni New 66 vessel, Hua Jincai, expressed their dissatisfaction and concern about the policy direction of "zero payment for migrant workers and full payment by employers". They are worried that a significant increase in the cost of recruiting foreign crew members in the future will accelerate the "elimination of fisheries" in Taiwan. They reminded the government that if it fails to evaluate the fishery operating environment, the affordability of shipowners and the recruitment costs of different countries of origin, it will rush to pass on costs, which may further impact the livelihood and business willingness of the fishery.
Zhang Hengyan, chairman of the Employers Association, pointed out that Taiwan certainly needs foreign labor, but the introduction cannot be managed without source, and breach of contract cannot be without consequences. The government cannot only care about the rights and interests of migrant workers, but let law-abiding families, companies and fishing boat owners bear all costs. Migrant workers who abide by the contract should be affirmed, and violations of the law must be dealt with in a fair, clear and legally enforceable manner. Taiwanese employers do not want differential treatment, but rather that the system should not be tilted towards the rights and interests of migrant workers, affecting the survival and livelihood of the people. Foreign labor policies should give priority to Taiwan's labor needs, citizens' right to work and social stability.
The Employers Association proposed eight major reform proposals at the meeting, including reforming employment security fees, disclosing fund income and expenditure and giving priority to families with severe illness; ensuring uninterrupted care for disabled families, establishing rapid release of quotas and transitional substitution; fair recruitment and zero-payment reforms, which must assess costs based on industry and family allocation; establishing foreign-related We will establish a transparent system for financial burdens and benefits, establish a mechanism for retaining migrant workers who have kept contracts and withdraw from the industry for serious violations, disclose management statistics such as the seizure and repatriation of missing migrant workers, and study the "Special Law on Foreigners Affairs" and an inter-ministerial coordinating mechanism to integrate migrant worker introduction, employment, residence, investigation, insurance and employer relief.
