Someone in the pub told me that i could claim all sorts of cash from either my company or from the goverment through a thing called Employees Benefits Fund or something similiar. Has anyone heard of this, and is it still available, is it available to foriegners. I was told that I could claim cash for having had children here, some said that is only if you are the mother - not unlike a maternity benefit.
Any infromation on this would be much appreciated.
Dear Sherwood,
yes, there is a something called the Employee Welfare Fund run by the Employee Welfare Committee. By (ROC labor) law, every company (probably starting from a certain headcount on, not sure) in Taiwan is required to have such a fund and every employee (ARC, work permit …) automatically pays 0.5% of her or his income into the fund at each payroll.
The committee then does things like the nice Chinese New Year Year End Parties with it, or the annual family outing etc… AND, there are a number of special allowances you can apply for, such as the child-birth allowances (applicable for fathers too, at least it worked for me, twice so far …), Chinese New Year gratification and so on.
All this should be published in your company’s Employee Handbook which is definitely available in Chinese, sometimes even in English.
Hope this helps. Spend the money carefully …