TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage in their home countries, migrant workers in Taiwan whose contracts are about to expire will be allowed a six-month extension.

On Wednesday (March 10), the Ministry of Labor's (MOL) Workforce Development Agency (WDA) announced that migrant workers approaching the limit to their years of employment in the country between March 17 and June 30 will be allowed to extend their contracts another six months, reported CNA. According to the Employment Service Act (就業服務法), foreigners employed as domestic caregivers may not work in Taiwan for more than 14 years, while those in other areas of employment must not exceed 12 years.

However, due to the pandemic and to , the MOL has allowed employers to apply for extensions for migrant workers about the reach their maximum permitted years of employment. From March 17 to June 30, employers can apply for a six-month extension for their migrant employees if they have four months or less left on their contracts, according to a statement by the MOL.

Based on ministry statistics, there were 10,653 applications for contract extensions as of Feb. 28, of which 6,724 were for factory workers and 3,929 were for domestic caregivers. This extension marks the fourth time since the start of the pandemic that the WDA has provided an extension for migrant workers whose final contracts were set to expire, including two three-month extensions and one six-month reprieve.