Hi! I wanted to ask a few questions about contracts in Taiwan and how they are governed by the Labor Standards Act. My concerns mainly relate to time off and sick day allowances. My employer used to offer sick days, and I have heard of many others doing so as well. About a year ago my employer rescinded all sick days, paid leave, and cut everybody’s salary by about 20% (not a popular move…). When asked about the sick days he simply stated that he did not have to give them to us so would not…
Anyway, a year has passed and I am now the manager here and have gotten to thinking about this. I contacted the ofice of labor affairs and they then informed me that employees at buxi-bans are entitled to 30 sick days leave per year. In addition they are entitled to 14 days leave for “personal affairs”. They stated that the “personal” leave would be unpaid, but that sick leave would receive half-pay.
They also stated that all contracts should state that said contract is governed by the Labor standards act. In my experience I have never seen a teachign contract in Taiwan that states that it is covered by this act.
Would anyone please care to comment on the statements above. Is this accurate? Has anyone ever received 30 days worth of sick leave from their employer?
Only certain industries are covered by the Labor Standards Law inlcuding manufacturing, construction, and transportation. The Buxiban industry is not covered. There is a provision that allows the CLA to cover other industries, but I haven’t been able to find an order to that effect.
I was informed by an employee at the office of labor affairs that buxi-bans are covered by the labor standards act. Contracts for buxi-ban employees were included under the Labor Standards Act by order of the Council of Labor Affairs, Executive Yuan in 1998, in the Labor Standards Act, Article 3…
I called the guy at the labor affairs office back and he definitively stated that buxi-bans were covered by the act… In previous dealings with the tax officials I have been told completely different answers to the same questions (this fact instills in me the exact same confidence that I have in government run organisations at home…)
So I looked around on the internet for anything relevant, given that I can’t read chinese this was hard… I came up with this link on tealit.com…
But once again, the guy at the office did confirm that buxi-bans were covered. I had my Chinese speaking wife call him back to make sure nothing was lost when I spoke to him in half pigeon chinese and English… and he confirmed the same thing to her… she asked him again if this also applied to foreign teachers working at buxi-bans and he stated yes…
go figure…
If anyone can find any more documentation as to this point…preferrably in English… I would much appreciate it.
I posted the following in a separate thread, but I think it is relevant here as well:
[quote]This is a matter that I think is worth addressing. Many foreign nationals call me from time to time and explain that they are having difficulty obtaining monies owed to them under a contract that has been terminated or otherwise expired.
Oftentimes, the amount in dispute is nominal, compared to the amount that the person would need to pay in legal fees to recover the disputed amount.
Please note that Taiwan law does not provide for the recovery of legal fees when an attorney has been retained to assist in the collection of monies owed unless the employment contract explicitly states that such legal fees are recoverable.
Thus, if you go to an attorney with a claim against your employer for an amount of NT$ 70,000, for example, the legal fees to recover that amount could well exceed the amount of your claim… and you, not your employer, will be responsible for paying the legal fees.
As such, many employers are happy to offer only a fraction of what you might be owed by contract or law, as the employer knows that if you try to recover the full amount with the assistance of an attorney, it will not be worth your while and you may end up paying more than what you recieve.
Suggestion:
If possible, have a clause included in your contract that stipulates that legal fees are recoverable by the winning party in the event of a dispute regarding monies owed.[/quote]
Tigerman’s comments are certainly worth taking into consideration, and especially for those high-ranking white collar positions in the high tech industry, etc. where the monthly salaries are phenomenal . . . . .
On a related issue, it has been discussed in the legal affairs forums (the name of the exact thread escapes me at the moment) that it is possible to sue for a payment order (of monies due) in the Taiwan courts directly.
I have put together a collection of relevant photocopies about this . . . . most of it is in Chinese of course . . . . . so if you and your Chinese associate would like to come to Nei Hu District, Taipei, and take me out to coffee . . . . . . we could discuss it.
(I believe that without my further oral explanations you won’t be able to fully understand it, hence I am not offering to mail this information . . . . )
I am at richard@forumosa.com (Be sure to write something meaningful in the subject line of your email, such as “Payment Order from Taiwan Court needed — Attention: RWH” or my secretary will probably just delete your email in the course of her hourly “spam deletion” activities . . . . . "
I would much appreciate it.