Taiwan extends subsidy for workers with pay cut
- Claire Lee
Taiwan will be offering a one-time payout of NT$10,000 (US$359) to workers who lost at least 20% of their salary amid a recent wave of COVID-19 outbreak.
Rolled out in July, the programme was originally available to workers with monthly salaries of NT$24,000 (US$862) to NT$34,800 (US$1,251) who lost 20% of their income in May or June.
But from Aug 23, workers whose income fell by at least 20% during July would also be able to apply for the subsidy, the Ministry of Labor said in a press statement.
The ministry also announced that it would include seniors in a programme that would reward incentives of up to NT$20,000 (US$718) for those who were unemployed but found a new job.
READ: Taiwan sees fall in furloughed workers in first week of August
Those who are older than 64, or have already begun drawing their Labour Insurance pension, would be eligible if they have been hired in a full-time job since April 30, or a part-time job since April 1.
The two programmes are expected to benefit some 320,000 people, Huang Wei-chen, director of the MOL’s Department of Labour Standards and Equal Employment told Focus Taiwan.
