Migrant Worker Broker Evaluation to Include Fair Recruitment, Hung Shen-han: Earliest Implementation in 2027
Taiwan's Ministry of Labor announced plans to incorporate "fair recruitment" into the evaluation of migrant worker brokers. This initiative aims to align with international human rights standards, prohibiting employers from illegally retaining documents like passports or collecting security deposits. Legislative amendments will also be pursued to mandate employers cover overseas recruitment fees, with the earliest implementation expected in 2027.
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- 📰 Published: April 9, 2026 at 11:58
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The Legislative Yuan's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee today invited the Minister of Labor, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of Agriculture to deliver a special report on "Preventing Forced Labor and Fair Recruitment: Taiwan's Migrant Worker System Aligning with International Human Rights and Supply Chain Governance," and to answer questions.
The Ministry of Labor's report indicated that to assist enterprises in complying with international human rights standards and strengthening supply chain governance, it plans to amend the "Employment Service Act" regarding the retention of documents. This will comprehensively prohibit employers or brokers from retaining workers' passports, work permits, and other identity documents, as well as collecting security deposits. Furthermore, legislative amendments will be promoted to ensure that within three years, employers in the manufacturing and fishing industries must pay migrant workers' overseas recruitment fees and related expenses during the employment contract period, gradually conforming to international norms.
Minister of Labor Hung Shen-han stated that the current migrant worker employment model has been in place since the 1990s. As 90% of Taiwan's migrant workers are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises, an adjustment period is needed. Regarding recruitment fees, before the completion of legislative amendments, the current goal is to first revise the migrant worker broker evaluation to incorporate the concept of fair recruitment into the indicators. This will be reviewed this year and is hoped to be implemented next year.
The migrant worker broker evaluation is based on the Ministry of Labor's "Key Points for Quality Evaluation of Private Employment Service Institutions Engaged in Transnational Manpower Brokerage Services," which includes quality management, violation penalties, customer service, and other matters. The full score is 100 points, with an A-grade evaluation requiring 90 points or more, and excellent performers may be exempt from evaluation.
Hung Shen-han emphasized that the idea of fair recruitment will be incorporated into the indicators to make fair recruitment distinguishable.
In addition, Hung Shen-han said that the Ministry of Labor has also observed that the administrative costs for employers to directly hire migrant workers are high. They are currently reviewing the simplification of the hiring process and are therefore evaluating increasing direct hiring points and streamlining processes, but there is no clear timetable for implementation yet. An assessment of related strengthening and improvements will be submitted to the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee within three months, but actual revisions will still take time.
Hung Shen-han stated that relevant budgets for the International Recruitment Center have been allocated this year and urged the Legislative Yuan to review and approve them. (Edited by Wu Su-jou) 1150409
The Ministry of Labor's report indicated that to assist enterprises in complying with international human rights standards and strengthening supply chain governance, it plans to amend the "Employment Service Act" regarding the retention of documents. This will comprehensively prohibit employers or brokers from retaining workers' passports, work permits, and other identity documents, as well as collecting security deposits. Furthermore, legislative amendments will be promoted to ensure that within three years, employers in the manufacturing and fishing industries must pay migrant workers' overseas recruitment fees and related expenses during the employment contract period, gradually conforming to international norms.
Minister of Labor Hung Shen-han stated that the current migrant worker employment model has been in place since the 1990s. As 90% of Taiwan's migrant workers are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises, an adjustment period is needed. Regarding recruitment fees, before the completion of legislative amendments, the current goal is to first revise the migrant worker broker evaluation to incorporate the concept of fair recruitment into the indicators. This will be reviewed this year and is hoped to be implemented next year.
The migrant worker broker evaluation is based on the Ministry of Labor's "Key Points for Quality Evaluation of Private Employment Service Institutions Engaged in Transnational Manpower Brokerage Services," which includes quality management, violation penalties, customer service, and other matters. The full score is 100 points, with an A-grade evaluation requiring 90 points or more, and excellent performers may be exempt from evaluation.
Hung Shen-han emphasized that the idea of fair recruitment will be incorporated into the indicators to make fair recruitment distinguishable.
In addition, Hung Shen-han said that the Ministry of Labor has also observed that the administrative costs for employers to directly hire migrant workers are high. They are currently reviewing the simplification of the hiring process and are therefore evaluating increasing direct hiring points and streamlining processes, but there is no clear timetable for implementation yet. An assessment of related strengthening and improvements will be submitted to the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee within three months, but actual revisions will still take time.
Hung Shen-han stated that relevant budgets for the International Recruitment Center have been allocated this year and urged the Legislative Yuan to review and approve them. (Edited by Wu Su-jou) 1150409