萬國法律事務所

Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs has recently indicated that the application procedure for hiring foreign caregivers will be revised. This announcement was well received by Taiwan’s local hiring agencies, which are frequently entrusted by clients with the task of locating twenty-four hour medical assistance for the infirm.

The Council of Labor Affairs has indicated that medical authorities will professionally assess whether or not the employment of a foreign caregiver is necessary, and stated that the “Barthel” index will not be applied to future applications. Under the current system, a Taiwanese family seeking to engage a foreign national caregiver is required to submit a completed Barthel index, which provides a grade from zero to 100 using very strict criteria in order to evaluate the degree of disability that a person suffers. Taiwanese hiring agencies have long complained that the Barthel index criteria are excessively strict.

According to such agencies, at least half of the Taiwanese people who require the assistance of a caregiver on an around-the-clock basis are unable to hire foreign national caregivers because they are unable to meet the strict conditions for disability as defined by the Barthel index. Under the Barthel index, a medical physician assesses a disabled person’s requirements by applying the Barthel Index and then forwards the assessment directly to the CLA.

This procedure has, in some cases, been open to fraud resulting in some applications being approved where applicants did not meet the index requirements. According to the new system, applications to employ foreign national caregivers will be sent to the Department of Health for approval. Applications will subsequently be forwarded to the Department of Social affairs under the Ministry of the Interior, which will use a two-week period to ascertain whether an appropriate domestic health care worker can be engaged to assist the applicant. Next in the process, the application will be sent to the Council of Labor Affairs, where the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training under will hold a meeting with the Department of health to discuss what and how assessment procedures will be utilized.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, there are approximately 9,000 Taiwanese nationals trained as national health care laborers, and 4,000 of these hold licenses, and 700 of those are Taiwan Aborigines.

Although utilization of the excessively strict Barthel index will be discontinued, applications to employ foreign national health workers will be approved only in cases where a suitable Taiwan national worker cannot be located for the applicant. The Taiwan Government has indicated that hiring agencies that locate and engage Taiwan nationals may be provided subsidies to encourage local hiring.