Migrant caregiver flexibility program to take effect in March

Taipei, Feb. 6 (CNA) A program allowing eligible families to hire migrant caregivers for a minimum of four hours at a time will go into effect by the end of March, and six selected employers under the program will soon be unveiled, a labor official said Thursday.

Under the program announced last May, eligible families are those with a member who has a certificate for physical or mental disability, severe illness or injury.

It also includes households where a family member has been assessed as needing long-term care at levels 2 to 8, or has undergone surgery within a preceding three-month period.

Under current rules, foreign care workers are generally employed on a live-in basis, residing with families who hire them to provide full-time care to someone in that household.

According to the Ministry of Labor's Workforce Development Agency (WDA), a distinctive feature of the program is that NGOs, including private foundations and nonprofits, will be the employers of the dispatched caregivers, rather than long-term care institutions.

What sets the pilot program apart from other care options is that service can be short-term and provided on short notice to cater to families with urgent needs, said WDA Senior Specialist Hu Hsin-yeh (胡欣野).

The selected employers were commissioned because they have documented experience managing Taiwanese caregivers under the long-term care service system and have been in business for at least five years, she explained.

However, some of the selected organizations could bring in labor brokers as they may not have the necessary know-how to recruit foreign workers, Hu said.

That means migrant caregivers could still have monthly "service fees" ranging from NT$1,500 (US$45.6) to NT$1,800 deducted from their salaries, he added.

Su Yu-kuo (蘇裕國), head of the WDA's Cross-border Workforce Management Division, said labor brokers will take care of migrant caregivers' day-to-day lives, such as managing their dormitories, while recruitment, employment and management of caregivers will be the responsibility of the employers.

Su stressed that the six selected employers will only be able to commission labor brokers that have been rated "A" by the WDA for five consecutive years, or those that previously posted excellent results and for which evaluations have been waived.

People who hire migrant caregivers through the new program can expect to pay fees of between NT$1,000 and NT$1,250 for four-hour periods, NT$1,200 to NT$2,500 for eight-hour periods, and NT$2,600 to NT$3,500 for 24-hour periods (which must include 10 hours of rest for the migrant worker).

Exact prices will vary from one service provider to another, and a finalized chart outlining prices charged by each provider will be posted on the WDA's website in due course, Su said.