Navigating government training assistance programs

Legal Legal - Work
1

My wife lost her job when her factory burned down. She applied to the government for training assistance but navigating the regulations has been a nightmare. Departments of labor and labor education appear to be giving out contradictory instructions possibly a result of conflicting agendas /priorities. If so I want to follow the agenda that has her receiving the benifits she is entitled to.
This concerns me because one wrong move can easily mean she loses the education and government assistance the company representative said she is entitled to.

If anyone has experience with navigating the government supported training program I would greatly appreciate your input.

I won’t bother you with all the conflicting directions she has received up till now but here are just a couple.
Department of labor said for her to receive the training and support she first needs to go back to work, then quite in a few months when the class is ready to begin. A few weeks before the class begins a entrance exam is given. If she doesn’t pass the entrance exam (for which there is no training material) you must wait another 3 months to register again for different class for which you may or may not pass that entrance exam either. Chinese is a second language for her, (she speaks 5).

The education department says working more than 14 days makes you ineligible for any assistance.
Also you can signup for multiple classes and take the class of the exam you pass, eliminating the need to wait and additional three months for a different class you might not get into. We then talked again to the labor department who said the education people are wrong. Any wonder we are confused.

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She needs to get a lawyer, a real good one.

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Not necessarily, if she can find someone at either department who knows what’s actually going on and how to explain it to the other bureaucrats. But good luck with that. :four_leaf_clover:

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4

I’m an American, as a rule you get no justice in the US system without a lawyer.
To me Taiwan is not a litigious system a lawyer might actually hurt you. Maybe!

5

Like you said that’s a pretty big IF. Thanks for your imput.

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I’m not sure, but new immigrant center, or something like that kind of name, might provide some information on that kind of things.

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Btw you can always book an appointment at the Legal Aid Foundation to have a brief consultation with a lawyer for free. There’s no need to prove your income/assets for the consultation. There may also be the same service at City Hall, depending on where you live. The problem is that the lawyer may not have seen this problem before and therefore not have an answer.

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And, it seems there are two kinds of training, 失業勞工職業訓練 and 在職員工職業訓練, if they are what government training assistance programs mean.

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Sorry, I thought your wife was a local citizen. If you’re local, and she’s a foreign spouse, she should have employment insurance (jiubao). Does that provide any training options?

10

If your partner is a foreign spouse, how about contacting TIWA? Contact details are the bottom of this page:

http://www.tiwa.org.tw/

Good luck and do not give up!

Guy

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My wife is a taiwnese citizen is she eligible to use their services.

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If we were at the wrong agency I think someone would have told us, besides we were sent there by her company who has been nothing but helpful. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Thanks funny, I’m the foreign spouse! But maybe we should contact them on my behave.

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I don’t think you went to a wrong agency, but though department of labor might have said about 在職員工職業訓練, and the education department might have said about 失業勞工職業訓練.

Workforce development agency, ministry of labor
Vocational Training Services
https://www.wda.gov.tw/en/Content_List.aspx?n=2997758C3CAF3A58
In chinese https://www.wda.gov.tw/Content_List.aspx?n=5B78EEBCE18CBE9F

台灣就業通TaiwanJobs, WDA
In Chinese
https://www.taiwanjobs.gov.tw/Internet/Index/List.aspx?uid=1839&pid=13

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15

Thank you Tando for explaining our predicament better than we did ourselves . I’m not sure but it appears to me that you see this as normal and some how acceptable because two departments are involved. I see it differently, from the point of view of the citizen with one issue. It’s should be irrelenvent how many departments are necessary to fix the problem. You have a group of citizens in need of help due to no fault of there own. They are directed to the labor department, the controlling agency in this situation . The citizen fills out forms, gets a set of tasks to perform and a time table. That’s great! But That department relies on another departments to provide some of the support the labor department is paying for) but when the citizen goes those departments they get a different, and contradictory set of tasks and time table.
This is catch 22, deviating from either departments process will leave you with no support from either department . Naturally the government can still claim they supports their citizen but in this case they just didn’t follow instructions, so sorry!
Im trying to fine direction as to how to avoid this type of senario for my Wife.

16

This is all a bit bamboozling. Sorry I can’t be of any help, but there’s a guy who might still be around, if you can find him - what was his name again? The guy who has been in Taiwan for about 25 years and has an extensive background in legal advocacy for the island’s foreign residents. I’ll get a couple of old timers to chime in here - @tempogain @ironlady @Brianjones @yyy. While this is an issue specific to ROC citizens, I would say he would be able to render assistance especially since it involves you as a foreign spouse. There’s also the Legal Aid Foundation of Taiwan, you really need to contact them. I’d say they’d love to have your case on their hands.
Please continue to fight the good fight - you are going to be a bit of a trail blazer in this specific area. Once you get to the other side, your experience and the information you uncover is going to be pretty invaluable. To look at this from a positive standpoint, you are sitting on a gold mine of being able to help others out in the same situation in the future. It’s a big help that her company is on your side.

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Thank you so much. Sorry I’m not exactly an uninterested party here.

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I found this web page for legal aid.
http://www.laf.org.tw
Good suggestion. Thanks

19

It’s kind of weird that for a training/education program to get work you need to do an entrance exam. But hey, it’s Taiwan and everywhere are entrance exams.

20

If your wife is a naturalized citizen, she may get some help from organizations to support new immigrants.

I think there or at legal aid foundation she might find someone who knows the system and goes to the agency with her to make right applications.

From your posts, I cannot know how much information you already have, and exactly what your wife is applying for, so I put some information I found on this situation.

If the support means 職業訓練生活津貼 (Living Allowance for Vocational Training), I think the education department is correct. If you start working, you cannot get it.

職業訓練生活津貼
https://www.bli.gov.tw/sub.aspx?a=m0XYKDQp1Fo%3D

公立就業服務機構 (Public Employment Service Agency) cannot deny to help for taking a vocational training and job placement, so imo your wife should choose the way she doesn’t lose her eligibility for financial support.

It seems there are two different 職業訓練生活津貼 by 就業保險法 (Employment Insurance Act) and 就業促進津貼實施辦法 (Regulations Related to the Implementation of the Employment Promotion Allowances).

Other related financial supports by government are 失業給付 (Unemployment Benefit) and 提早就業獎助津貼 (Earlier Reemployment Allowance).

They cannot be received at the same time, and total period of supports is 6 months.

I just guessed a possible cause they say contradictory things.
From what I have experienced and heard, I would not be surprised when two government departments say different things, not just in Taiwan. Of course they should be consistent and should help their citizens effectively, but we should recognize the reality. I think citizens also should try to know what rights and supper systems they have and what they are applying for.

here she will find past examinations and answers.

You should click 職業訓練>職訓課程>甄選試題.
https://www.taiwanjobs.gov.tw/Internet/Index/List.aspx?uid=1839&pid=13
https://thmr.wda.gov.tw/home.jsp?pageno=201403070001

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