Long time ago I read in a couple of places that foreign workers in Taiwan can take up to 15 not paid days off by law. Last Christmas I had some troubles at my company because according to them I took “too many days” off, and that there was no law with this regards. For we had some discussions and so, I googled this “law” but I could find only some not official references that seemed to be more like for English teachers (not sure though). Does anybody know what the government says about this? I just want to know for sure what are my rights before the fun starts again…
I don’t think they are obligated to give you any unpaid leave unless you are talking about sick leave or something like that. Depends on your contract.
If your job falls under the Labor Standards Law, like most jobs foreigners take here, and that includes teaching English, you get 14 days of unpaid leave a year, and 30 days of (1/2 pay) sick leave a year. You also get paid leave for funerals, maternity and paternity leave. Then you get 7 days of unpaid leave after you complete your first year. The problem is that many employers don’t realize the law applies to foreigners, or they know it applies, and are just trying to rip you off. Jesus80, How many days was too many days?
Hi Flicka. I do not teach English neither other language, but I work as a computer engineer. I can’t find all the details but it seems that I took about 12 working days, which was like 2 weeks plus some days from adjacent weeks. My manager sent me an email with an speech about how abnormal is to take 2 weeks in a row, and how unfair for my coworkers. Like if this was new for him or the company (I made it clear during the interview that I was visiting my country during christmas and it was also the second time I did it in this company xD).
I didn’t realise that the labour law states you can take two weeks unpaid leave, glad somebody else did! The issue then becomes about whether that can be taken all in one block at the will of the employee.
The situation you are going through is standard practice in Taiwanese companies. They’ll promise you things, but if you don’t have it in writing, they won’t give you it. They’ll tell you the situation has changed or we never agreed to that or it looks bad to others or we need you now.
It’s pretty uncommon for workers here to take 2 weeks off in a row (10 working days and two weekends), one of the reasons is the pressure exerted on employees like you have just mentioned. In the end I’d say insist on your two weeks Christmas break, I worked too many Christmas holidays in Taiwan, extremely depressing at the time. The worst they can do is fire you later… 
Welcome to kindergarden, by that I mean your manager sending you an email telling you how unfair it is to your co-workers. It is such bullshit, like he really cares ??
Just the play the game. Taiwan is the place where you can bullshit your way to where ever you are going, but you need to be able to play the bullshit “game”
Another time have a bullshit reason to go home, such as grandmother is very sick and about to take the ticket, so you need to go home. Whatever you can come up with. But it has to be a valid bullshit reason…
Being pure and honest does not work here.
You have the ‘right’ to take 14 days unpaid leave but I don’t think you can designate when you take the leave and the company can deny your application. It seems to me that this is an an ‘empty’ right with no remedy available to the employee.
In practice, I have always been successful in informing employers well in advance of my plan and politely making it clear I am going regardless of what they say. Obviously you will be earning a reputation as a difficult foreign employee but sometimes it is necessary. Note that if you take leave unilaterally with receiving permission, you can be terminated without severance for missing work after three consecutive days.
[quote=“Kaalund”]Welcome to kindergarden, by that I mean your manager sending you an email telling you how unfair it is to your co-workers. It is such bullshit, like he really cares ??
Just the play the game. Taiwan is the place where you can bullshit your way to where ever you are going, but you need to be able to play the bullshit “game”
Another time have a bullshit reason to go home, such as grandmother is very sick and about to take the ticket, so you need to go home. Whatever you can come up with. But it has to be a valid bullshit reason…
Being pure and honest does not work here.[/quote]
That depends on your personality and work place. I have been honest and entirely forthcoming with every employer I’ve had and have not once encountered a problem taking time off. (We’ll see if I have the same luck next June when I need a week off ahead of getting married…)
I agree. It’s much better to be honest and forthright. No one will believe your bullshit reasons even if they don’t say anything. Besides, going home for Christmas is a totally valid reason. Just tell your employer that it is as important to you and your family as Lunar New Year is to them. The main problem is that two weeks is too long. Lunar New Year is usually just 4 or five actual days off for most people. I’d back it up by insisting that you informed them of this at your interview.
[quote=“Hokwongwei”][quote=“Kaalund”]Welcome to kindergarden, by that I mean your manager sending you an email telling you how unfair it is to your co-workers. It is such bullshit, like he really cares ??
Just the play the game. Taiwan is the place where you can bullshit your way to where ever you are going, but you need to be able to play the bullshit “game”
Another time have a bullshit reason to go home, such as grandmother is very sick and about to take the ticket, so you need to go home. Whatever you can come up with. But it has to be a valid bullshit reason…
Being pure and honest does not work here.[/quote]
That depends on your personality and work place. I have been honest and entirely forthcoming with every employer I’ve had and have not once encountered a problem taking time off. (We’ll see if I have the same luck next June when I need a week off ahead of getting married…)[/quote]
BTW, if somebody could post here the link with this rule/law, it could be really helpful for me in the case that they decide to go one step further than the previous times I applied for these days… and say no to my request.
Thanks in advance.
You are referring to Unpaid Leave as opposed to Vacation Days, right? And Vacation Days (aka Annual Leave) are paid days, aren’t they? If this is so, why take unpaid leave for Christmas instead of paid vacation days (or some combination of the 2 types)?
At my company, we get 10 or 15 days of vacation days (depending on seniority) and these are paid. I hadn’t thought about taking unpaid leave (we call this Personal Leave) except for extreme circumstances. I wouldn’t expect those to be paid. For us, we lump all non Vacation Days into 30 days of Leave, of which the Funeral, Birth, Wedding, etc. are included. The key point is that how all of these days are treated is up to the company to define in their company policy (which you agree to when you sign your work contract)
Despite all this, and whatever the Labor Standards Law says (and my HR tells me the Labor Standards Law is silent about Personal Leave Days), bottom line is what you and your boss work out. Whether you gave a heads up in your interview or give notice well in advance, you and your boss (or board, if you are the boss) should be able to work out whatever you agreed despite whatever labor law or company policy you have. If it ends up being an exceptional amount compared to the next person in your company, I imagine you’ll still get it if, well, the company thinks you are exceptional.
Goose part of the problem is that most employers don’t give paid leave for the first year and then it starts at 7 days (or 5?) for the second year.
So you are stuck using unpaid leave.
In the end it is a lot of playing soft and hard ball. Most employers don’t have a problem with giving unpaid leave if it is not a busy time and you communicate that in advance, it’s the two weeks in a row they have will e pissed off, because as I mentioned, it is quite rare for people to take two weeks off in a row in Taiwan.
They will spin it as if you do it other people will want to do it, or you are getting special treatment as a foreigner.
You can’t really win but as others mentioned most of the time they will cave in, but get the permission in writing otherwise you could be fired before new year without bonus!
Yes we are talking about unpaid personal leave.
The LSA mentions unpaid personal leave in Article 43 and the CLA has issued regulations under authority of the LSA stating that employees can take up to 14 days of unpaid personal leave in a year. However, it is also very clear that employers can deny requests for personal leave and that it is up to the employer and employee to ‘work it out’.
laws.cla.gov.tw/Eng/FLAW/FLAWDAT0201.asp -see Article 43
laws.cla.gov.tw/Eng/FLAW/FLAWDAT0202.asp – see Article 7
In the end, you are at the mercy of your employer as to whether you can actually take unpaid personal leave. Whether you can get personal leave is probably a sign of how good of an employer you have since it is the CLA has thrown up its hands and made this rule aspirational rather than enforceable.
Is everyone aware that you can get 30 days of half-paid sick leave per year? Hint hint…
[quote=“headhonchoII”] Most employers don’t have a problem with giving unpaid leave, it’s the two weeks in a row they have will e pissed off, because as I mentioned, it is quite rare for people to take two weeks off in a row in Taiwan.
They will spin it as if you do it other people will want to do it, or you are getting special treatment as a foreigner.
[/quote]
The length of the request is the core of the problem and also the consequence: being made out to be a whiny foreigner demanding special favors in addition to higher pay.
I agree with you, but at the same time a certain line of argumentation would be that foreigners do need higher pay because they have to cover all their own living expenses including rent (which is very difficult on a typical Taiwanese salary) and they need extra vacation to get home because Europe and North and South America take ages to fly to.
Basically, if my laoban told me I couldn’t take any unpaid leave, I would have to wait at least 5 years before I could realistically have a trip back home. That’s kind of absurd, don’t you think?
Hokwongwei, so there’s no place where it’s explicitly said that I can take those 14 days off in a row to visit my homeland?
Not that I know of. I recommend next time your contract is up for renewal, insist that they write in a clause that you can take a long holiday once each year.
I agree with you, but at the same time a certain line of argumentation would be that foreigners do need higher pay because they have to cover all their own living expenses including rent (which is very difficult on a typical Taiwanese salary) and they need extra vacation to get home because Europe and North and South America take ages to fly to.
Basically, if my laoban told me I couldn’t take any unpaid leave, I would have to wait at least 5 years before I could realistically have a trip back home. That’s kind of absurd, don’t you think?[/quote]
I agree but I would avoid making the argument that foreigners need higher pay if you are a ‘local hire’ because it is very unpopular with management and your coworkers. If you are a foreign expat with skills that the Taiwanese think are unavailable in Taiwan things are very different. Just make sure you know which category you are in before you start making claims based on your status. The vast majority of foreigners these days are in support roles and the fact that they often do make a bit more money than coworkers is a major source of work place tension. At the same time, the foreigner is unhappy because she feels she is making less than she should. It’s not a great situation.
Do you have a sick relative?
According to Art. 20 of the Gender Equality in Employment Act: For the purpose of taking personal care for family members who need inoculation, who suffer serious illness or who must handle other major events, employees may request family care leaves. The number of this leave shall be incorporated into leave with personal cause and not exceed seven days in one year.
Do you have a sick relative?
According to Art. 20 of the Gender Equality in Employment Act: For the purpose of taking personal care for family members who need inoculation, who suffer serious illness or who must handle other major events, employees may request family care leaves. The number of this leave shall be incorporated into leave with personal cause and not exceed seven days in one year.[/quote]
Not currently. Eventually I will, one way or another…