ECCT Human Resources Committee Event

Taiwan and the responsible recruitment of migrant workers: 

Growing attention; opportunity for reform

Guest speaker: Dr Bonny Ling, Executive Director, Work Better Innovations

Date: Thursday, 24 August 2023
Time: 12:00-14:00
Venue: 2F, The Residence, Grand Hyatt Taipei / 台北君悅酒店2樓凱寓
Address: No. 2, Songshou Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei City /台北市信義區松壽路2號

Taiwan, like many other developed economies in the world, faces domestic labour shortages and increasingly depends on foreign low-wage labour, especially in sectors of employment deemed especially “dirty, dangerous and difficult.” As multinational corporations seek to de-risk and further diversity their supply chains, they will need to ensure that their business partners comply with the highest international standards for the treatment of labourers or risk facing negative consequences, including reputational damage, erosion of ESG ratings and financial harm.

According to statistics from Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor, there are currently more than 700,000 migrant workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam employed in Taiwan, with the vast majority involved in the industrial sector. While migrant manufacturing workers are crucial for Taiwan to maintain its export-driven economy, they can be vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Therefore, businesses that operate in Taiwan must understand and be able to identify and prevent human rights risks associated with their migrant workforce.

One of the most prevalent risks of forced labour concerns how migrant workers are recruited for cross-border employment, for they frequently pay very high fees to labour brokers or agencies in their home countries for connecting them to job opportunities abroad. Fees incurred by the migrant workers may cover costs associated with their job placement, plus related costs (such as job training and medical examination) and other illegitimate and undisclosed costs. These fees add up and present a serious risks of debt bondage and forced labour.

This talk follows a joint ECCT HR and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee Event in 2018 on the “Ethical recruitment of migrant workers: Challenges in securing sustainable labour supply chains in Taiwan” with representatives from IKEA and Walmart. At this event, the speaker will share key recent international developments on responsible recruitment, as well as regional developments in the Asia Pacific region on the remediation of labour recruitment practices that fail to align with international standards on fair recruitment. She will highlight relevant examples from Australia and emphasise the connection with ESG considerations. The speaker will also address relevant development in Taiwan, including the recent bilateral commitment of June 2023 to eliminate recruitment fees for migrant workers to come out of the first US-Taiwan trade agreement.

About the speaker

Dr Bonny Ling works at the intersection between international human rights and business responsibility as a practitioner and scholar. She is the Executive Director of Work Better Innovations and a Research Fellow at the Institute for Human Rights and Business, Senior Fellow at the University of Nottingham Taiwan Studies Programme and a Global Taiwan Institute Scholar. She teaches Business and Human Rights at the School of Law at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.

Cost: NT$1,600 for members and NT$2,400 for members' guest(s)

To cancel without penalty, written cancellations must be received by 23 August 2023.

Contact: Meredith Sun Tel: 2740-0236 ext. 219 / meredith.sun@ecct.com.tw