As a result of the aging population and declining birth rate, many families choose to hire foreign workers for home care or domestic work (hereinafter referred to as “migrant domestic workers”) , helping look after the elders or disabled members of the family. To provide further protection to the migrant domestic workers, the government has included these workers as the subject of compulsory enrollment under the Labor Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act (hereinafter referred to as “Occupational Accident Insurance Act”). The Bureau of Labor Insurance, Ministry of Labor (hereinafter referred to as “the BLI”), therefore, started to offer occupational accident insurance(hereinafter referred to as “Occupational Accident Insurance”) enrollment services to the newly-employed migrant domestic workers through the “Migrant Workers One-Stop Service Center”, taking effect from year 2023. The convenient and timely enrollment services ensure the work and life safety of the migrant domestic workers.
The Occupational Accident Insurance Act was implemented on May 1, 2022. According to the regulations, the migrant domestic workers holding the employment permits issued by the central government authority should be enrolled to the insurance on the date of employment. Based on the records of work permits for migrant domestic workers provided by the Workforce Development Agency (hereinafter referred to as “WDA”), the BLI has distributed notices to the employers of these workers, advising them the relevant regulations and offering convenient enrollment services. The purpose is to protect the rights and interests of the migrant workers and familiarize the employers (who are mostly natural persons) with the regulations to avoid penalty. As at October 31, 2022, a total of 159,183 employers of the migrant domestic workers have participated in the Occupational Accident Insurance as an insured unit. A total of 164, 307 workers are covered thereby.
On 1 January, 2023, the Ministry of Labor launched the ”Migrant Workers’ One-Stop Services”, providing orientation training and integrated services to the newly-employed migrant domestic workers and those who have not received any training in the recent five years. When a migrant worker has completed his/her orientation training, the BLI will liaise with the WDA to obtain relevant information for enrollment to the Occupational Accident Insurance. In the meantime a text message will be sent to the employer who joined as an insured unit for the first time. An employer may visit the following website to inquire on the insurance certificate number: The BLI’s Global Website/Online Applications/Enrollment for Migrant Domestic Workers.
The amount of the monthly premium for migrant domestic workers is minimal (NTD48, based on a premium rate of 0.18% for Occupational Accident Insurance). In terms of administrative efficiency, it would not be worth the while if an employer has to, on receiving the monthly premium bills, visit the financial institutions, convenient stores or e-Bill systems to pay the premium, in the meantime bear additional handling charge. To save the time and expenses, the BLI will distribute the occupational accident insurance premium bills for the migrant domestic workers on a quarterly basis (February, May, August and November of each year).
The BLI reminds the employers that they should send to the BLI the completed application form for the withdrawal of insurance on the same day when a migrant domestic workers leaves the job, is transferred to another employer or when the employment agreement is terminated. This ensures timely reporting of the withdrawal and accurate calculation of the premium. For further information about the one-stop services for new migrant domestic workers, please visit the website of the “
Migrant Workers One-Stop Service Center”and download the “FAQ for the Migrant Workers One-Stop Services” for reference.