First employment contract looks too simplistic?

Work Working in Taiwan
1

need some feedback as I just got my first job offer in Taiwan. It is from a small Taiwanese IT consulting company with < 5 headcount. I’m inclined to take as there will be opportunities to learn new solution (which will be marketable later on). But I find the contract too simple, anything I should be asking at this point before I sign?

Employment Contract

COMPANY (hereinafter referred to as the “Party A”) and MY NAME (hereinafter referred to as the “Party B”) agree to enter into this contract and both parties mutually agree to abide by the following terms and conditions:

  1. Party A agrees to pay Party B an annual salary of New Taiwan Dollars (NTD) X. This salary will be paid monthly at the rate of NTD X per month and will be deposited into Party B’s account at a financial institution on or before the 10th day of the following month.
  2. Party A shall grant Party B 10 days of annual leave per year as stipulated in the contract. If Party B does not complete a full year of service in a given year, the number of leave days shall be calculated proportionally based on the months of service.
  3. Party A shall contribute 6% of Party B’s monthly salary to the Employee Pension Program as required by law, which will be deposited into the designated retirement account.
  4. Party B officially starts employment on ____. After the commencement of employment, Party A and Party B will discuss and confirm the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
  5. Party B will undergo a probationary period of three months, as per legal regulations.
  6. Party B shall provide labor services related to project consultation, project management, and pre-sales product introduction during working hours for Party A.
  7. Any matters not explicitly covered in this contract shall be governed by the Labor Standards Act and its implementing regulations.
2

Seems fine

The Labor standards act has everything the law requires and they reference it for #7

Simpler contract is better

Maybe ask them if there are any bonuses, when they will be issued, and how do they determine the bonus. For example 2 months for standard performance?

The labor standards act requires more holidays when you have more tenure with the company, and I assume that overrides what they put in this contract, since the company is required by law to provide that.

3

no bonuses unfortunately. i just negotiated for a higher base pay.

4

You might want to put in more about the working hours too.

5

if you can negotiate better vacation days, now is the time to do so.
the contract seems ok, however, it also says they follow the law, and the law in Taiwan is very stingy towards the employees. If you have any specific things to discuss (for me it would be vacation days, but up to you) now is the time to do so.

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6

i probably should ask that it should be 40 hours only per week.
it’s a consulting position, so there many overtime on some times.
is offsetting hours common in Taiwan?

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7

offsetting hours is not common in Taiwan. However, our consultants bill us and are paid by the hour, so no need to offset.

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8

Also sometimes they will just deduct your holiday allocation instead of doing a make-up day for those long weekends. You should have the option to choose which.

Yes Taiwan working law is very basic so they love to say ‘we follow the law’ lol.

I dont know if you want some fixed schedule during the week or not.

As for NHI, they have an obligation to make a contribution for full time employees (something like over 16 hours a week is the golden rule)

I believe that if you are a full time permanent employee you aren’t a consultant. You are a permanent employee after passing probation in Taiwan and you can’t be fired at will. The minimum working hours per week need to be stated.

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