The labor ministry says it will allow employers to give short-term contracts to migrant workers left stranded in Taiwan due to COVID-19.
A number of workers with expiring contracts have found that they cannot return home because their home countries have put entry restrictions in place designed to keep COVID-19 out.
Though there are ways for them to remain in Taiwan legally once their contracts expire, they are unable to work, and so have no income. For some employers, negotiating a new contract with these workers is out of the question, because laws stipulate that contracts with migrant workers must last three years, longer than the workers may be needed.
To resolve this problem, the labor ministry is letting some employers offer their stranded workers contracts of three to six months instead. The ministry says that all normal rules and procedures still apply to these contracts.