from April

The Ministry of Labor says employers must, by law begin setting aside pension
funds for blue-collar foreign workers who have worked for the same employer
for more than 10 years.

The recently-introduced directive is due to take effect on April 1 next year.

It requires employers to contribute between 2 and 15-per cent of workers'
wages each month to a retirement fund.

According to the Department of Employment Welfare and Retirement, blue-collar
foreign workers are covered under the old labor pension system, but employers
were previously exempt from making pension contributions to them.

That exemption was based on earlier interpretations that viewed migrant
workers as "supplementary labor," since they were only allowed to stay in
Taiwan for up to six years.

However, the labor ministry has issued the new directive as migrant labor
policies are being gradually relaxed and the Long-term Retention Program for
Migrant Workers was introduced - giving foreign workers more time to qualify
for pensions.

According to the ministry, more than 7,000 companies employ blue-collar
foreign workers, but not all of them have opened labor retirement reserve
accounts.