Employee Benefits in Taiwan

Social Security

Labour Insurance (ordinary accident insurance) and Employment Insurance

Except otherwise prescribed by the law, an employer should enrol all employees in the statutory social insurance from the first day of their employment. The formula for calculating the labour insurance premium and employment insurance premium is (i) Employee’s monthly insurance salary * (ii) contribution percentage * (iii) insurance rate.

Healthcare and Insurances

• National Health Insurance (NHI)

Except otherwise prescribed by the law, an employer should enrol all employees in the NHI.  The formula for calculating health insurance premiums for an employer is (i) Employee’s monthly insurance salary * (ii) contribution ratio by an employer*(1+ number of average family dependents) * (iii) health insurance rate.

• Occupational Accident Insurance

The formula for calculating the occupational accident insurance premium and employment insurance premium is (i) Employee’s monthly insurance salary * (ii) contribution percentage * (iii) insurance rate.

Required Leave

a. Holidays and Annual Leave

• Public holidays (paid): Commemorative days, Labour Day and other dates designated by the Ministry of Interior as public holidays. The public holidays for employees are 12 days. Employers must compensate employees double the daily salary for working on holidays (for up to 8 hours) or grant compensatory days off in lieu of overtime pay if agreed by the employees.
• Annual leave (with pay): Annual leave days for workers are as below:
  • Three days of annual leave for a worker who has worked for more than six months but less than one year.
  • Seven days of annual leave for a worker who has worked for one year or more but less than two years.
  • 10 days of annual leave for a worker who has worked for two years or more but less than three years.
  • 14 days of annual leave for a worker who has worked for three years or more but less than five years.
  • 15 days of annual leave for a worker who has worked for five years or more but less than 10 years.
  • One additional day of annual leave for each year of service over 10 years, up to a maximum of 30 days.

Employers shall pay employees wages for the unused annual leave at the year-end settlement or upon the termination of the employment contract. For unused annual leave days that are carried over to the following year according to the agreement between the employer and the employee, wages must be paid for the unused annual leaves at the end of the following year or upon the termination of employment.

b. Maternity / Paternity Leave

1. Pregnancy check-ups leave (with pay): Female employees are entitled to 7 days of leave for pregnancy check-up during pregnancy.
2. Maternity leave: Female employees are entitled to 8 weeks of maternity leave and 4 weeks of miscarriage leave after being pregnant for at least three months and are entitled to receive full pay if employed for at least 6 months, or half pay if employed for less than 6 months. An employee who suffered a miscarriage after being pregnant for at least two, but less than three months is entitled to one week’s leave. For a miscarriage after being pregnant for less than two months, five days’ leave should be granted. The amount of salary for leave taken due to a miscarriage after being pregnant for less than three months may be decided by the employer.

3. Paternity leave/Accompany Pregnancy check-up leave (with pay): employees are entitled to 7 days of paternity leave (which must be taken around the time when his/her spouse is expected to give birth or has given birth) and accompany pregnancy check-up leave (which must be taken during the pregnancy period of his/her spouse).

c. Sickness and Disability Leave

1. Job-related injury/sick leave (with pay): For so long as the employee requires medical treatment or recuperation.
2. Non-job-related sick leave (half pay within 30 days in one year).

For illness (es) not requiring hospitalization: Up to 30 days in one year; and

For illness (es) requiring hospitalization: Up to one year in any two years.

3. Menstrual leave: 1 day per month.  Half pay for the first three days.

d. Any Other Required or Typically Provided Leave(s)

1. Marriage leave (with pay): 8 days.
2. Funeral leave (with pay): 3 to 8 days
3. Personal leave (without pay): 14 days.
4. Family care leave (without pay): When an employee’s family member is giving birth, suffering from a serious disease or a significant matter requiring the employee’s personal attention, he/she may take up to 7 days of family care leave to be included in calculating his/her personal leave in one year.
5. Leave for official business (with pay): For so long as the employee is required by law (e.g., military service) or the employer to take leave.
6. Parental leave (suspension of employment without pay): Upon having worked for more than 6 months, an employee may, before each of his/her children turns 3 years old, apply for unpaid parental leave for a period, until the said child turns three years old, provided, however, that the period of unpaid parental leave shall not exceed 2 years.

Pensions: Mandatory and Typically Provided

Employees’ eligibility for retirement

• Voluntary retirement: An employee is entitled to retire if he/she (i) has worked for at least 15 years and attained the age of 55, (ii) has worked for 25 years, or (iii) has worked for 10 years and attained the age of 60.
• Compulsory retirement: An employee may be ordered to retire if he/she reaches the age of 65 (unless otherwise extended through agreement between the employee and employer) or becomes incapable of performing his/her duties due to mental or physical disability.

Employees’ eligibility to be enrolled in the statutory pension schemes

• Defined benefits scheme under the Labour Standards Act (DB Scheme or better known as Old Pension Scheme): The Old Pension Scheme applies to local employees hired before 1 July 2005 and foreign employee’s ineligible to be enrolled in the New Pension Scheme.

• Defined contributions scheme under the Labor Pension Act (DC Scheme or better known as New Pension Scheme): The New Pension Scheme applies to local employees hired after 1 July 2005 and foreign employees who have married ROC citizens and have a residency in Taiwan.

Employers’ obligations under the statutory pension schemes

• DB Scheme/Old Pension Scheme

An employer should appropriate labour retirement reserve fund (“Reserved Fund”) ranging between 2% and 15% of the total monthly salary of the eligible employees and deposit such amount under the employer’s Committee’s account at the Bank of Taiwan (“BOT”) every month.

Each employer assesses the balance of the Reserve Fund for all the employees having service period accrued under the Old Pension Scheme before the end of each year. If the amount of the Reserve Fund is insufficient to pay the retirement benefits calculated for the employees who will be eligible for retirement in the following year, the employer should make up the difference in one appropriation before the end of March of the following year and submit the statement to the Committee for its verification.

In case of retirement, an employer can withdraw the Reserve Fund to pay for the retirement benefits (“Retirement Benefits”) at two units for one year of service up to 15 years, and one unit for any additional year of service from the 16th year onwards, up to a maximum of 45 units. The term “unit” refers to the one-month average wage received by the employee for the last six months prior to the retirement date. An employer should pay the Retirement Benefits within 30 days after the retirement date.

• DC Scheme/New Pension Scheme

An employer should contribute to at least 6% of each eligible employee’s monthly pensionable salary into his/her individual pension fund accounts at the Bureau of Labour Insurance (“BLI”) every month (“Pension Fund”).   An employee under the New Pension Scheme may apply to the BLI for the accrued Pension Fund upon reaching the age of 60. An employer need not provide any additional Pension Fund for the employee upon retirement.

Statute of limitation:

An employee’s right to claim the Retirement Benefits or Pension Fund is subject to a statute of limitation of 5 years from the month following the date of retirement.

Any Other Required or Typically Provided Benefits

Increase in Tax-Exempt Meal Allowance:

To accurately reflect fluctuations in price levels, the Ministry of Finance has recently revised Article 88 of the Guidelines for the Examination of Profit-Seeking Enterprise Income Tax. The amendment raises the tax-exempt meal allowance, which is excluded from employees’ taxable income, from NT$2,400 to NT$3,000 per individual per month. It is common for local employers in Taiwan to provide tax free meal allowance as part of the monthly wage.