Millions Owed In Migrant Worker Disability Claims In Taiwan; Labour Ministry Urged To Address Their Issues

Taiwan – Migrant workers in Taiwan are suffering because of occupational accidents. The Ministry of Labour (MOL) was urged by the Control Yuan to improve its monitoring of migrant workers.

A report revealed that many migrant workers became disabled because of occupational accidents in Taiwan. They did not receive disability compensation after the accident.

The Control Yuan is Taiwan’s top government watchdog body. The Control Yuan requested the MOL after approving an investigative report written by two of its 27 members. The Control Yuan president also investigated the matter while preparing the report.

Reportedly, unclaimed compensation benefits owed to disabled migrant workers as a result of occupational accidents over the past 10 years totaled NT$40 million (US$1.44 million). Control Yuan member Wang Mei-yu revealed this at a news conference in Taipei on Tuesday. Wang further said this is a national disgrace in terms of efforts to protect migrant workers.

Reportedly, Taiwan currently has about 700,000 migrant workers. Wang revealed that from 2015 to 2018, the rate of migrant worker disability caused by occupational accidents increased rapidly. The migrant workers’ accident in the manufacturing sector was double that of local workers.

From 2016 to 2020, a total of 1,087 migrant workers with employment permits received disability compensation benefits. The report found that 512 migrant workers terminated their employment contracts.

Over 50 per cent of migrant workers who were eligible to claim disability pensions, stopped receiving pension payments. Those migrant workers had difficulties in claiming their disability living allowance because of complicated application procedures stipulated in the Labour Insurance Disability Benefit Payment Standards and the Act for Protecting Workers from Occupational Accidents.

Reportedly, some employers did not enroll their legally employed migrant workers in the labour insurance program. Some employers also filed applications to withdraw their migrant workers from the program after they were disabled at work.