Attention migrant workers! Intermediaries charging for "work pay" for changing employers, please call 1955 to report violations

DPP legislator Lin Chu-Yin (林楚茵) and other legislators received complaints from foreign migrant workers, that they were frequently charged "work pay" to change employers, which cost NT$10,000 each time! The legislator requested the Ministry of Labor (MOL, 勞動部) to investigate illegal intermediaries, to eradicate the problem of long-term exploitation of foreign migrant workers, and to comprehensively review the process of changing employers to protect the rights and interests of migrant workers legally working in Taiwan. In this regard, the MOL encourages migrant workers to call the 1955 special hotline to report unscrupulous intermediaries who charge them with illegal agency fees.

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The dialogue between migrant workers and unscrupulous intermediaries was exposed. Photo/ Retrieved from Lin Chuyin's Facebook

DPP legislator Lin Chu-Yin said that there was a dialogue between an Indonesian migrant worker and the intermediary, that the intermediary is asking for NT$25,000 from the migrant worker. There is also a Vietnamese migrant worker who was unable to obtain her employment documents, and the original agency asking the worker for NT$10,000 before the documents will be given. In order to change jobs, the migrant worker still paid the NT$10,000. Even after the epidemic gradually slowed down in May 2021, the hiring of migrant workers is still suspended. The domestic shortage of labor has not been resolved, and the problem of charging “work pay” is becoming more serious. The legislators of the DPP rallied to ask the MOL to face the issue of charging for “work pay”, and not to trade slaves in a disguised form, and not to turn Taiwan into an island of slave labor.

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The legislators of the DPP called for the simplification of the procedures for migrant workers. Photo/Retrieved from Lin Chuyin's Facebook

In addition, the MOL must simplify the procedures related to migrant workers changing employers, and "build a multi-language online information platform" as soon as possible, so that when migrant workers switch employers, they can directly inquire or download the original employment documents from the official website. Then allow new employers to report this information to the local labor office, to prevent some unscrupulous intermediaries from using misinformation to defraud migrant workers or for employers to get improper gains.

Migrant workers, please call 1955 to report illegal intermediaries. Photo/Retrieved from Lin Chuyin's Facebook

According to the MOL, in accordance with the "Employment Service Act" and the "Private Employment Service Agency Fees and Standard Fees", intermediaries can only charge migrant workers a monthly "service fee" of NT$1,500 to NT$1,800 for job transfer. If the agency charges additional costs, then this is "in violation of the law". The government will impose a fine of 10 to 20 times the “work pay” charged by the intermediary, and in the most severe case, the establishment permit may be revoked. Migrant workers are reminded that if an intermediary asks for a non-regulated fee, they can call 1955 to report, or they can write a letter to the MOL.