Experts urge government to tackle low wages, push for transparency

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Labor experts on Friday called on the government to tackle Taiwan's low-wage issue and push for greater wage transparency.

When wages in a country's labor market become distorted or unreasonably low, the government should step in to address the matter, professor Lee Chien-hung (李健鴻) from the Department of Labor and Human Resources at Chinese Culture University told CNA.

The first step would be to look into the reasons for the low pay and formulate policies to help raise wages, Lee said.

Regarding wage transparency, he said Taiwan should reference policies in the United States and the European Union, which require employers to disclose all salary ranges offered to job applicants, either in job postings or during the hiring process.

Under Taiwan's Employment Service Act, employers are currently only required to disclose monthly salaries for positions that pay less than NT$40,000 (US$1,247) per month in job postings. However, for vacancies that pay over this amount, employers tend to use the phrase "salary negotiable."

People looking for work have the right to salary information so that they can choose and compare jobs of their choice, Lee said, adding that this method also puts pressure on employers to increase wages whenever they are looking to recruit talent.

Lee's thoughts on low wages in Taiwan came one day after Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) revealed plans to define low-wage workers in the country as those with a monthly salary of NT$31,000 (US$966.51) or less, in line with two-thirds of the median earnings used by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member nations.

Son Yu-liam (孫友聯), secretary-general of the Taiwan Labor Front (TLF), on Friday said the key is knowing how to help Taiwan overcome low wages, and not just defining what constitutes "a low-wage worker."

With the Minimum Wage Act that officially came into force this year, Son said the law can help increase the wages of grassroots workers in a more institutionalized and predictable manner, helping to reverse the long-term low-wage situation that has prevailed in Taiwan.

However, with the minimum monthly wage only set to rise to NT$28,590 next year, Taiwan still has room to make improvements, including promoting measures pertaining to wage transparency, Son said.

While the government acknowledges the low-wage problem in Taiwan, it still allows employers to import large numbers of migrant workers, he said.

He urged the government to change its mindset in order to improve Taiwan's low wages, saying for example that paying migrant workers the same as Taiwanese workers could be one way to address the low-wage problem.