A Story of Exclusion: Foreign Migrant Workers in Taiwan
(Source)
The movement of people across borders is a defining feature of our globalized world. Taiwan, strategically situated at the crossroads of East and Southeast Asia, has experienced waves of immigration throughout its history. There has been a notable surge in migrants predominantly from Southeast Asia in the past two decades. Taiwan’s demographic transition to an aging, advanced industrial economy has led to labor shortages beginning in the 1990s, causing the government to open up work opportunities that have attracted migrants seeking economic upward mobility. Currently, Taiwan hosts around 700,000 migrant workers who make up more than 70% of the 960,000 foreign population in Taiwan. The three primary countries of origin are Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Migrant workers play a vital role in fostering Taiwan’s economic development by addressing the persistent labor shortages. They have become an integral component of Taiwan’s labor landscape, spanning various sectors, approximately 506,000 migrant workers in industrial jobs such as factories, construction, fishing boats and 221,000 working as social welfare workers (overwhelmingly as in-home caregivers). For instance, dating back to 1992, the steady inflow of foreign migrants has been instrumental in mitigating Taiwan’s “care crisis” amidst its quickly aging population. Moreover, migrant workers have played a pivotal role in bridging the labor gaps within the so-called “3D” industries, characterized by work that is “dirty, dangerous, and difficult.” Other industries, including chip manufacturing, have similarly relied on the contribution of foreign migrant workers.
Despite the important role migrant workers play in Taiwan’s society and economy, they face numerous challenges that hinder their social inclusion, especially because their legal status is neither recognized nor protected. This piece will shed light on the intersection of legal recognition, social exclusion, and the experiences of Taiwanese migrants, demonstrating the need for public policy reform in Taiwan.
1. Economic Pressures
Economic pressures prevent migrant workers from fully participating in society. Migrant workers often come to Taiwan in hope of better economic opportunities. Because of the information asymmetry and an intransparency job market, many migrant workers have to rely on labor brokers in their departing country to arrange travel plans and a job in Taiwan, even exhausting all their financial resources to pay brokers fees in hope of getting a job in Taiwan.
There are many economic stress factors associated with migration to Taiwan, including high broker fees, insurance, and private loans. Take broker fee as an example, the exorbitant fees not only reflect a source of economic pressure before arrival, but also information asymmetry and lack of access to the job market. Many migrants express lack of information about the Taiwanese job market and therefore the need to pay third-party brokers in their home country to facilitate the process of finding a job in Taiwan. However, the brokers hardly provide any relevant information about the work in Taiwan. Many migrant workers “know the job content only after they come to Taiwan and cannot choose a job at all,” as a migrant worker from Thailand stated upon being interviewed, and that he only knew which factory he was going to work in just before his plane took off.
These brokers fees are a huge barrier to achieve better economic outcomes for the migrants. Many migrant workers from low-income backgrounds spend a significant portion of their household income to pay for the broker fees. For example, Vietnamese Third-party brokers generally charge a fee that overall costs between 5,000 to 6,000 USD before brokers help a migrant secure a job in Taiwan. Moreover, high broker fees also come with high interest rates, intensifying the economic pressure.
Additionally, health exams prior to entry, and then requirements for ongoing health checkups once inside Taiwan, are a major source of economic pressure for migrants going into Taiwan. To apply for a visa, migrant workers in Southeast Asia need a certificate issued within 3 months by a hospital in their home country approved by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Unlike domestic workers who do not need regular checkups, the migrant worker will have to go to the Taiwanese hospital designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare for regular health checks. The cost is about 3,000 yuan (approximately 94 USD) per check up, which will be borne by the foreign workers. These healthcare costs are a barrier to entry for the foreign workers before their arrival in Taiwan, and persists after their arrival, exacerbating financial hardships and reinforcing economic exclusion.
2. The move towards being an “undocumented and escaped” worker
Such economic pressures tend to drive migrant workers to stop seeking illegal jobs with higher pay. Given the extreme financial hardships that come with accessing foreign job markets via the traditional broker sponsored routes, many migrant workers leave their documented positions and become undocumented workers. The abandonment of their legal positions is further fueled by mistreatment by employers and their inability to change employers or occupations. Hence, more than ten percent of migrant workers in Taiwan are “undocumented,” However, the loss of legal status results in further social alienation.
An undocumented status comes with a whole new array of concerns. Once migrant workers leave their legitimate positions, their names are removed from their employers’ records. Undocumented workers thus search for new jobs in rural areas with smaller populations to avoid law enforcement.
For a long time, the government of Taiwan allowed foreign contract workers to regularize their status if they worked legally and to work in Taiwan for no more than six years at a time. When their work period expires, foreign contract workers are required to return to their home countries where they may apply again for work in Taiwan if they choose. However, there is a recent change in policy where foreign migrant workers with a bachelor degree of education or higher or technical specialties are allowed to stay for an unlimited amount of time, but the policy still excludes many low-income migrant workers. For example, although the government did create a category of agricultural workers under the unlimited stay policy, such policy only applied to those working in outreach and specific food production industries. This structure further incentivizes migrant workers in Taiwan to turn undocumented workers without work authorization.
3. Lack of Legal Protection
Taiwan’s migrant worker policies originate from the “Guest Worker System”, stipulating that migrant workers cannot change employers at will. It not only limits their work location, working hours, and even salary protection. The system treats migrant workers as short-term labor force rather than long-term, permanent members of society.
Foreign migrant workers’ labor rights are generally covered in the Labor Standards Act and the Employment Service Act. Labor Standards Act provides minimum standards for working conditions such as working hours, vacation days and wages, whereas the Employment Service Act serves the purpose of enhancing social and economic development as outlined in article 1 of the Employment Service Act.
Not all types of migrant workers fall under both statutes. Specifically, domestic workers and home care workers are not protected under the Labor Standards Act because they fall outside the definition of business or industries in Article 3 of the Labor Standards Act. Rather these domestic workers and home care workers fall under the Employment Service Act which does not specify upper limit on working hours, vacation, and minimum wage, leading to a legal normalization of long working hours with low wages. Working conditions such as wages and working hours are only regulated by labor contracts negotiated between the employer and the migrant workers before entering Taiwan and lack legal protection. The report by Taiwan Ministry of Labor in 2020 found that the average working hours of home care migrant workers was 10.4 hours, only 11.4% of migrant domestic workers have weekly vacations, and 34.4% of migrant care workers did not have any vacations. The poor working conditions of care workers is a motivating factor pushing migrant workers to change into other industries.
However, migrant workers do not have the ability to change jobs at will. Under the Employment Service Act, it is very difficult for migrant workers to change jobs. Migrant workers can only change employers under strict conditions and with the consent of the relevant authorities. Specifically, under Article 53, foreign migrants workers who worked as industrial or service workers (including technical work, executives, teachers, sports coaches, artistic or religious work or vessel workers; see article 46 of the Employment Service Act for the full list) cannot change to a new employer and work in the care industry. Moreover, domestic workers cannot change their employers. Under Article 53 and Article 59 of the Employment Service Act, domestic care workers may not shift to a new employer or new work except for four narrow exceptions (the death of the employer or the person being cared for, the worker is technically unable to continue working, the factory is closed and cannot operate or the employer fails to pay wages in accordance with the contract, and other reasons that cannot be attributed to the employee). This effectively means that migrant workers cannot seek higher paying jobs even when they are competent and difficult to leave even when facing poor work conditions. And the system makes it incredibly hard for migrant workers to change jobs legally unless they have clear evidence of mistreatment and report it to the authorities.
Legal recognition and the immigration regime play pivotal roles in shaping the experiences of foreign workers in Taiwan. The current policies and practices create a vicious cycle of economic and social exclusion, pushing many migrants into precarious situations.
Suggested Citation: Angela Pan, A Story of Exclusion: Foreign Migrant Workers in Taiwan, Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol’y, The Issue Spotter (November 4, 2023), https://live-journal-of-law-and-public-policy.pantheonsite.io/a-story-of-exclusion-foreign-migrant-workers-in-taiwan/.
Angela (Ruoyi) Pan is a JD Candidate at Cornell Law School in the class of 2025. She graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Government and China & Asia Pacific Studies. Aside from her involvement with Cornell Law School’s Journal of Law and Public Policy, Angela serves as the president of the Public Interest Law Union and the vice president of Women of Color Collective.