Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-27
Vice premier Shih Jun-ji said Wednesday that the minimum monthly wage will go up from NT$21,009 to NT$22,000 starting January 1. That represents a US$33 raise from US$702 to US$735.
The minimum hourly wage will be adjusted from NT$133 to NT$140 or US$4.44 to US$4.68. The increase in the basic monthly wage will be 4.75%, whereas the hourly rate will go up by 5.3%. Shih said both rates will be higher than the current economic growth rate.
President Tsai Ing-wen recently said an ideal basic monthly wage would be NT$30,000 or US$1,000. In response, Shih said economic growth was not ideal last year. For basic wage growth to be higher than economic growth, Shih said the president was expressing optimism. However, he said the likelihood of that happening should not be too far off.
Meanwhile, labor minister Lin Mei-chu said Wednesday that the most important step next year is to draft a bill for setting the minimum wage. [FULL STORY]