Indonesian envoy calls on Taiwan to pass live-in care worker protection law

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) Taiwan should pass a law that formally introduces day-off regulations to ensure the rights of the large Indonesian live-in care worker community in the country are protected, Indonesia's representative to Taiwan has said.

The Indonesian authorities hope Taiwan will soon finalize a Domestic Workers Protection Act, which stipulates live-in workers "shall have at least one day off every seven days," said Iqbal Shoffan Shofwan, head of the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei (IETO) in response to recent queries from CNA about the welfare of migrant care workers in Taiwan.

The proposed measures in the draft bill also included provisions on the termination of work contracts, rest time, leave, special leave, insurance, and filing complaints, he noted.

Shofwan was referring to a draft bill drafted by the Council of Labor Affairs (now known as the Ministry of Labor) that dates back to 2011. The draft bill was sent to the Cabinet in 2013 for review, which later in 2016 returned the proposed measures to the Ministry of Labor.

The ministry has since cited difficulties in implementing the draft bill, noting that as live-in care workers mainly work in homes, their work hours and rest time are difficult to define.

It also told CNA that it currently has no plans to draft a bill to introduce new leave day regulations for live-in care workers.

Domestic caregivers in Taiwan are subject to a different labor law than workers in other sectors and are therefore not eligible for the "one fixed day off, one flexible rest day" rule requiring employers to give workers at least one day off every seven days.

As such, many migrant care workers in Taiwan only get one day off each month, and some do not get days off at all.

There are currently more than 280,000 Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan, of which about 180,000 are live-in care workers, according to data made available by the Ministry of Labor.

Labor rights groups have put forward their versions of draft domestic caregiver protection bills, which have remained a focus of campaigns for the improvement of labor standards for migrant care workers.

However, Shofwan also pointed out that while some Indonesian live-in care workers desire one day off per week, others would rather not follow the "one day off per seven days" rule because of the overtime pay they can earn.

Asked to comment on the issue, the MOL said that Taiwan in 2023 implemented an expanded respite service that allows live-in care workers to take up to 52 days off a year, but this is at the employer's own expense.

Regarding the minimum monthly wage for migrant care workers, Shofwan said the Indonesian government realizes there is a "significant gap" in welfare between care workers and industry workers despite the two groups both having heavy workloads.

The minimum monthly wage for domestic care workers is currently set at NT$20,000 (US$616), much lower than the basic wage of NT$27,470 for workers protected by the Labor Standards Act.

To this, Shofwan pointed to Taiwan's classification of intermediate skilled foreign workers under its Long-term Retention of Skilled Foreign Workers Program, which raises the minimum monthly wage of live-in caregivers to NT$24,000.

Under the program, the employers of migrant workers who have worked in Taiwan for at least six years and obtained certain qualifications can apply for them to be redesignated as intermediate skilled foreign workers.