TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In one of his final acts as premier of Taiwan, Lin Chuan approved a committee's proposal to increase the hourly minimum wage to NT$140 (US$4.65) and the monthly minimum wage to NT$22,000, according to the Ministry of Labor (MOL), though an official announcement will probably not be released until tomorrow, reported Liberty Times.
In August, the MOL's annual Minimum Wage Review Committee decided to increase the monthly wage from NT$21,009 to NT$22,000 (US$725), a far cry from the 30 percent increase to NT$27,711 proposed by some committee members earlier.
Meanwhile, instead of increasing the hourly minimum wage from NT$133 to NT$160 as originally proposed, the rate was raised by only 5.26 percent to NT$140.
Nevertheless, Premier Lin Chuan's approval of the increase was welcome news as he had submitted his resignation on Monday and it was not certain if he would have time to finish reviewing the committee's proposal. There were fears by some that it would be delayed until his replacement Tainan City Mayor William Lai (賴清德) takes the reins.
It is estimated that 2.07 million workers will benefit from the new wage increases.
In accordance with the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), foreign workers in Taiwan will also receive the pay raise.
