Employers warned not to hire illegals during holiday period

One businessman is facing a big fine after his new employee turned out to be a runaway migrant. He had failed to conduct any background checks

Taiwanese businesses have been warned to run proper background checks before putting on extra workers over the Chinese New Year holiday period, after immigration officials found that one employer had hired an absconded migrant.

Wang Hsin-Chi, the Director of Tainan City Government’s Labor Affairs Bureau, said it was the responsibility of employers to ensure they hired registered workers. He added that it was also an offence to borrow legal migrant workers from other businesses on a part-time basis.

Taiwan Times reported that the director of a cooperative in Tainan, with the surname of Lee, was facing a hefty fine after hiring a worker for the holiday period without bothering to check his background. A close friend had recommended the foreign worker to Lee.

A special unit from the National Immigration Agency made a surprise visit to Lee’s business and found that the employee was a runaway migrant worker with no valid permit to work in Taiwan.

The director was found guilty of violating Section 1 of Article 1 of the Employment Services Act, and is liable for a fine of NT$150,000 (US$5,141) to NT$750,000

(US$25, 707). The worker’s referee is facing a fine of NT$100,000 (US$3,427) to NT$500,000 (US$17,136).