Newsletter
QUOTAS INTRODUCED FOR INDIGENOUS TRIBES' PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
In order to expand employment opportunities for members of Taiwan's indigenous tribes, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) on 5 May 1999 announced that companies which win bids for major construction projects must subcontract an amount equaling two percent of the project amount to indigenous firms, or that indigenous workers must make up at least two percent of the labor force on the project or that the indigenous workers hired by said subcontractor plus those hired directly make up at least two percent of the labor force on the project. Only if any of the three conditions are met may foreign laborers be used on the project. In addition, the quota of foreign labor will remain at 50 percent and cannot be increased because of the employment of indigenous laborers.
The quota system for employment of indigenous labor will replace the current system of providing incentives. A firm will need to hire one indigenous laborer for each NT$200 million under contract in major construction projects and will no longer be granted extra quota for foreign laborers based on its employment of indigenous labors. Thus, the quota for employment of foreign laborers will be retained at 50 percent and will not be increased to 65 percent due to employment of indigenous labors as previously implemented. As a result, the number of foreign laborers used by companies would be reduced.