Wow why don’t you report him…Highly illegal. It would be very rare to treat full time Taiwanese staff Iike this as they would report him immediately.
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I recently found out that this problem of not paying pension or NHI is also frequent in Japan, with the added calamity that if caught, the authorities enforce payment for two years only. That means that if you have been working 4, 10 or even 16 years and did not notice the lack of payment, the employer can still get away Scot free without paying the full fare, and you will be royally *$&?@!
So at least in Taiwan we have the chance to make them pay full fare…And there is always the Tax Office as our own personal John Wick.
Of course it’s illegal. But, remember that as foreigners we are outsiders, not one of them so therefor it doesn’t really matter. Also, they figure that most foreigners will leave after a few years so what’s the point of making those payments? The problem with reporting them is that it will probably end up costing your job. I worked out a deal by playing stupid. I said I’d get my own insurance and then they panicked and got it for me. Other teachers don’t seem to care as much.
In Taiwan they can go back 5 year. If they find any monkeying around then the fine can be several times the owed amount. However, they will only initiate an investigation if the person who is being screwed requests it.
In my case, my full income is being reported to the tax office. However, the NHI and Labor, only the minimum is being reported to reduce his (my boss’s contribution). I actually when to all the offices and asked them to check for me. NHI and Labor were quite shocked when I pointed out that he wasn’t declaring the correct amount. But, nothing will happen unless I request it. If I do, then I can probably kiss my job goodbye. It pays pretty well and it super easy so I’m reluctant to do something now.
My only confusion is still with the whole pension thing. As an APRC holder for over 4 years, how do I know if I’m in or not? I asked at the Labor department and they were clueless. The whole thing is a black hole. In the US it’s pretty simple and straightforward. Here…?
I don’t agree with this and that is why this situation is being allowed to develop, too passive. The MOL would sort this out very quickly. Very rare to see in a full time office job here, foreigner or not. Your boss is a cowboy and yes I agree the English education ‘industry’ is full of them.
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If you are subject to, of?, LSA, it may be mandatory.
How to check if it is paid is here.
It’s changing for the better but will take generations to undo. It is how many Taiwanese and Chinese business owners do things though. Even in full time office jobs. Look at the low pay and over time requirements. It’s terrible what people put up with here.
It’s my understanding that you can contribute up to an additional 6% that is not taxed. Can someone confirm that this is accurate?
Yes, I was just looking at the details for this at my company the other day. Up to 6% tax free in addition to the company contribution of 6%. For my company, I need to inform HR with a form and then they make the arrangements with payroll.
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That’s great. Thanks!
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I was working at a private uni when these laws started to be instituted for foreign teachers. I remember reading this thread back then, and afterwards talking to my Taiwanese colleagues who swore up and down there was no such Labor Pension for foreigners in the works. Then later, during my last semester at the school, they started paying into my labor pension account. I’ve looked around the Ministry of Labor website and can’t figure out if I am owed money by my former employer. Should I just go down to the Ministry of Labor and ask them to look into this, and ask them if I have a case against the uni? Do you think I would get a straight/honest answer from them? I did go down there a couple of weeks ago and got a print out of my payments into my account, but it wasn’t until I left and read the thing over that I started to clue-in to the possibility that maybe my uni should have started paying much earlier.
What was your status (normal foreigner, foreign spouse or PR)?
I think you’re more likely to get a clear answer by contacting the BLI online than by asking in person.
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I worked in Taiwan in 2017 and 2018 and my employer paid in properly at the time. Anyone know how I can find out how much is in my “account”? Will I ever see this money? I’m only in my 30s so I’m guessing it would be a long ways off.
This extremely helpful blog has an article on how to check, if you have an Alien Citizen Digital Certificate, https://translatingtaiwanlit.com/2020/07/13/labourinsuranceapp/ . If you don’t have one there’s an equally helpful article on the site describing how to get one, assuming you are in Taiwan.
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Thanks for your reply. I was a normal foreigner with an APRC.
If your job was under the LSA, and the start of the payments coincided with the change in the law last year (adding PR’s to the LPA), it sounds like the employer did the right thing.
(It was probably violating the LSA by not 提撥ing your hypothetical pension contributions because it expected you not to last the required number of years there to retire under the LSA system; after the switch, you definitely won’t retire under the LSA system, so it’s moot.)
But as a teacher at a private university, was your job under the LSA? 
If @tando can’t figure this one out, ask the labor department or the MOL (not the BLI).
Thanks for your reply. Thanks @SuperS54 also. I don’t know if my job was under LSA or not. As mentioned above, prior to my last semester at the uni (spring of 2018) in which they started paying, my department denied any existence of a pension for foreigners. I went to the MOL a couple of weeks ago to ask if I had a pension coming, and they printed my info out showing that my school was paying during my last semester there in 2018.
Does anyone know what office I would visit to check how much is in my Pension account? My employer was contributing the 6% for me in 2017 and 2018 while I was working in Taiwan, and then I left Taiwan for a while, and as of this month I’m employed locally here again and getting the 6% again.
So I just want to go check how much I have in my account in total, and talk to them about what actually happens to that money for a foreigner when I turn 65.