Cross-party lawmakers question eased migrant domestic worker rules

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) Lawmakers across party lines on Wednesday questioned the government's easing of rules on hiring migrant domestic workers, warning that the policy could weaken professional childcare standards and shift the care burdens from the state onto families and workers.

Since the Cabinet in mid-March approved a plan to ease rules on hiring migrant domestic workers, allowing households with at least one child under 12 to apply, the policy has sparked both support and concern ahead of its scheduled April 13 implementation.

At a legislative hearing, Chiu Cheng-chun (邱鎮軍) of the main opposition Kuomintang described the government's move as "abandoning the bottom line of professional care" for children in an estimated 1.44 million eligible households.

"The government's policy has now been simplified to the idea that as long as someone is watching the children so that adults can go to work in factories or offices, it is a successful policy," Chiu said.

With public childcare services falling short and local nannies too expensive, he argued that by turning to migrant domestic workers, the government no longer seemed concerned about the quality of childcare.

In the same vein, Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said the policy amounted to the government shifting care responsibilities and related burdens onto families, which would then pass the pressure on to migrant workers.

Calling it "a typical chain of downward-flowing responsibility," she argued that the policy would in fact widen class disparities.

As a result, middle-class families will struggle to afford it, low-income households will be unable to use it, and high-income families will be largely unaffected, Lin said.

In response, Labor Minister Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) acknowledged that nannies are now expected to provide professional services such as health care and guidance for children's early development, adding that "these are, of course, not tasks migrant domestic workers can perform."

In his presentation to the lawmakers, Hung also said migrant domestic workers under the new policy were positioned as "auxiliary household helpers" to assist with daily housework and living support rather than replace professional childcare services.

"It is intended to give families with different needs another option, and in practice, families will make different choices based on their own needs, rather than all opting to use domestic workers," he said.

In an effort to "balance fairness with care needs," Hung added that the government would adopt "differentiated measures" for disadvantaged and special-needs households, including priority review and a reduced employment security fee of NT$2,000 (US$62.5) per worker per month, instead of the standard NT$5,000.

The security fee is a government levy used to support labor welfare and the management of migrant workers.

Meanwhile, foreign employers will be required to pay NT$10,000 per worker per month.