Cabinet spokesperson Kolas Yotaka / CNA file photo

Taipei, July 18 (CNA) Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has decided that in two years' time, the government will no longer go through brokers to hire contract workers but instead will allow all its central agencies to recruit such workers directly, Cabinet spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said Wednesday.

Kolas said the decision to roll out that policy in 2020 was made to better protect the rights and interests of government contract workers, who are usually employed in areas such as forestry management and protection, forestry survey, lab testing and experimentation, national park patrols, and cultural site maintenance.

Currently, 80 percent of government contract workers are under the direct supervision of government agencies, while the division of labor and assignment of responsibility are managed by labor brokers and government agencies, according to Kolas.

To ensure workers' rights and interests, Lai has decided that the current contracts with manpower agencies will not be renewed when they expire in two years' time, Kolas said.

Instead, she said, Lai has instructed government agencies to assemble their own recruitment teams, which will publicly recruit contract workers and ensure their rights and interest in accordance with the Labor Standards Act.

Lai believes that the change will lead to a better working environment for contract workers, which is in line with President Tsai Ing-wen's labor policy, Kolas said.

In the first quarter of the year, 7,238 government contract workers were hired through manpower brokers, with the Council of Agriculture absorbing 2,638, the Ministry of Health and Welfare 845, the Ministry of Labor 754, the Ministry of Justice 712, the Ministry of Education 710 and the Ministry of Culture at 305.

(By Ku Chuan and S.C. Chang)
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