JAKARTA -  Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor entered the response stage on June 11 for a petition opposing a proposed shift toward employer-paid recruitment costs for migrant workers. 

The petition received 5,929 endorsements on the government’s Public Policy Participation Platform, above the 5,000 needed for a government response. 

The petition was filed on April 12 by the Taiwan Disabled Family and Caregiver Employers International Association. It passed the endorsement threshold on May 26, and the ministry said it would publish its formal response by July 26. 

The association asked the government to suspend the “zero-fee” recruitment plan, hold public hearings and publish a full cost assessment. It also called for a cost-sharing framework involving Taiwan’s government, employers and migrant workers’ countries of origin.

The petition says employers could face NT$100,000 to NT$200,000 in extra costs for each migrant worker, with costs for Vietnamese workers reaching NT$190,000. The association said the burden could affect small manufacturers, fisheries and families that employ live-in caregivers. 

The Ministry of Labor has previously said household care is not covered by the trade-related commitments behind the policy discussion. 

“Family employers and live-in caregivers are not within the scope of the Taiwan-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade; members of the public should not panic,” the ministry said in a June 1 statement. 

The fee debate follows a separate Employment Service Act amendment approved by the Executive Yuan on April 9. 

The ministry said the draft would ban employers and private employment agencies from keeping workers’ identity documents, taking property or collecting deposits, with penalties of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 if the amendment passes the legislature.