Taipei, Aug. 1 (CNA) The New Taipei City government on Tuesday launched a website to allow employers of migrant workers to check information about brokers and recruitment agencies in the city and thus filter out agencies that have a history of malpractice.
On the website, employers can search for brokers and recruitment agencies that have government ratings and check the nationalities and job specialization of migrant workers.
In addition, the website shows whether the agencies have been penalized for any violations over the past two years, according to Chen Kuan-ting, an official at the New Taipei Labor Affairs Department's Foreign Workers Service Division.
"The website provides information about 255 brokers and recruitment agencies registered in New Taipei, including dozens that have violated regulations or have had their businesses suspended over the past two years," Chen said. "Employers can gain information about a specific agency before deciding whether to use it for employment," he said.
Chen said his division launched the website after receiving many complaints from employers about substandard services offered by manpower agencies.
The information on the website (http://ilabor.ntpc.gov.tw/cloud/Agency) will be updated every month, he said.
There are over 1,000 migrant worker brokers or recruitment agencies in Taiwan, but some have long been criticized as offering poor services and racking up labor violations.
According to Chen, some agencies simply change their names and start up again after being closed down by the government.
In 2008, the Taiwan government introduced direct hiring services that help local employers to bypass brokers of foreign labor and cut out the monthly fees that migrant workers usually pay to brokers.
However, labor rights groups said the cumbersome process of direct hiring, which requires employers to fill out a lot of paperwork, has scared away many employers, who continue to depend on brokers and agencies to hire migrant workers.
