A domestic caregiver in Taipei says she was forced to live in a basement parking garage for a week as her employer didn’t want her staying in the apartment while she was traveling abroad – and she planned to be away for up to two months.
The 43-year-old Indonesian worker, named Sally, told reporters from TVBS-NEWS that she had been made to stay in a 1.65-square-meter room in the parking garage around a week ago.
A video showed that the room was no bigger than a motorcycle parking spot. The nearest washroom was the public facility on the second basement floor, to which she had to walk through the dark garage watching for cars.
She told investigators that she could not sleep because the small room was too hot and stuffy, and the parking garage was too noisy.
After the Taipei City government learned of Sally’s plight, she was offered relocation with the help of the Labor Department and her employment agency.
Preliminary investigation found that Sally’s boss also employed a second foreign caregiver, but the other worker’s location and condition was not mentioned.
The Labor Department warned that Sally’s employer might have violated the Employment Services Act.