Photo credit: Taipei Times
Employers are not required to support a foreign worker’s family if the worker becomes pregnant, the Ministry of Labour (MOL) said yesterday, following complaints from an employer who discovered a caregiver they recently hired was pregnant.
Taipei Times reports that the ministry urged the public not to spread misinformation, saying pregnant foreign domestic workers can apply for unpaid leave.
However, as migrant domestic workers are not covered by the Labour Standards Act or the Employment Insurance Act, they are not entitled to paid maternity leave, the ministry said.
The employment contract can be terminated by mutual agreement if the employee is unable to continue working, it added.
At the same time, employers are prohibited from dismissing workers because they are pregnant, in line with similar regulations in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, it said.
If a worker is unable to perform their duties, the employer can seek help from an employment agency to facilitate communication and reach a mutual agreement to terminate the contract, find the worker a new employer or arrange for her to return to her home country, the ministry said.
Once the contract is terminated by mutual agreement, the employer can hire another foreign worker, it added.
A TVBS report on Monday last week said a family had applied to hire a domestic worker from Indonesia in April, but discovered that she was pregnant within a month of her starting work in August.
The employer accused the employment agency of withholding information, the report said.
