TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Messages posted on social media have surfaced showing Taiwanese female employers bragging about not giving their domestic caregivers vacation leave.

On Sunday (May 13) the administrator of the Taiwanese Facebook Community Kens Talking (肯腦濕的人生相談室) uploaded screenshots of a conversation on the social media app LINE among Taiwanese women bragging about how little in the way of vacation they give their foreign domestic caregivers, the vast majority of whom are women from Southeast Asian countries.

The thread starts with a Taiwanese woman asking her female friends how many days a month they give to their domestic caregivers. It appears that she wants their domestic worker to care for her children, which is strictly illegal (they are only supposed to care for the elderly), and that her father-in-law does not believe that the caregiver needs to be given any days off.

The first woman to respond says that they only give their caregiver one day off per month. The second woman to respond says they do not formally give their caregiver time off, but if they want to take leave, they need to request to do so in advance.



Screenshot of LINE conversation. (Image from @KensTalking)

In the next screenshot, a woman brags that in the 10 months they have employed their domestic worker, the person has only received one day off, which was for their birthday.

The next woman brags that their caregiver has been working for them for six months without a single break. She speculates that because the worker is unfamiliar with her surroundings, she does not dare to go out and therefore has not asked for leave.

The last woman asks how she can apply for a domestic caregiver.

Screenshot of LINE conversation. (Image from @KensTalking)

Currently, Taiwan's labor laws requiring one day off per week of work do not apply to domestic caregivers. However, the country offices of foreign workers in Taiwan usually provide contracts to employers which include a stipulation that the caregivers be given one day off per week of work.

Foreign domestic caregivers who fear that they are being exploited can call the 1955 Counseling and Protection Hotline.