TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s industrial migrant workers earned an average salary of about NT$32,000 (US$1,056) in June last year, while the average migrant home care worker was paid about NT$21,000 in the same month, according to results of a survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor (MOL) in July and August 2022.
The MOL on Monday (Jan. 9) announced in a press release the results of the survey on the management and employment of migrant workers for the month of June last year. From July to August, the ministry collected 4,573 samples from employers in the manufacturing and construction industries and 4,007 responses from household employers.
The survey showed that industrial migrant workers (including those working in the manufacturing and construction industries) in Taiwan earned an average of NT$32,303 in June, including a regular salary of NT$26,066 and NT$5,619 in overtime pay, up NT$1,463 and NT$223, respectively, from the year before.
The survey revealed that caregivers made an average of NT$20,533 in June, including a regular salary of NT$17,961 and NT$2,135 in overtime pay, up NT$398 and down NT$47, respectively.
With regard to working hours, industrial migrants put in an average of 203.1 hours that month, a decrease of one hour since last year. This included 167.6 regular working hours and 35.5 overtime hours, a decrease of 0.1 hours and 0.9 hours, respectively.
Among household employers, 83.2% said they did not prescribe how long their caregivers had to work each day. Regardless of whether the number of working hours was specified or not, the survey showed that migrant caregivers worked an average of about 10 hours a day.
The survey also showed that 49.4% of these caregivers were off work either every weekend and national holiday or part of those days, an increase of 23.7% year over year, attributed mainly to the Level 3 COVID-19 alert in the previous summer.
According to the survey, 98% of household employers paid their employees overtime for working extra hours.
A total of 73.5% of household employers said they plan to have a backup caregiver in the future for when their caregivers have a day off (one day per week), with 79.4% of respondents opting to rely on family members to provide this care and 16.9% opting to apply for relief services provided by the government.
Among industrial employers, 34.7% reported encountering difficulties with their migrant workers. The language barrier topped the complaints at 71%, followed by attitude problems or poor discipline at 36%, and unflexible attitude at 34.7%.
The survey also shows that 20.8% of household employers encountered difficulties with their care workers, with the language barrier topping the list at 42.8%. Meanwhile, 35.9% of complainers were bothered by their workers' cell phone use, 33.5% were bothered by their workers’ requests for pay raises, and 24.5% had issues with employees’ attitudes.
