Resigning and severance pay a little bit odd

Hi,

I have a friend who is looking to resign her job - after 6 years.
Having looked in the Labor Standards Law, I wonder:
I have the following question: Is she is entitled to a severance pay, even though she resigns by herself?

I found especially Aritcle 18 very strange, it seems to say, that you are not entitled, if you terminate a fixed term contract upon termination.

But how about a non fixed term contract, respectively a fixed term contract that hasn’t expired?

Many thanks for your help.

Article 17

Where an employer terminates a labor contract pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article, he shall pay separation fee to the worker in accordance to the terms prescribed below:

  1. Separation fee equivalent to one-month’s average wage shall be paid to the worker who has continuously worked in the business entity of the same employer for each full year.

Article 18

Under any of the following circumstances, a worker is not entitled to additional wages for the advance notice period and severance pay:

  1. Where a labor contract is terminated under the provisions of Article 12 or 15.
  2. Where the worker terminates his service upon expiration of a fixed- term contract.

I know of no country where you are entitled to severance pay if you resign. Why should Taiwan be different?

In South Korea you are entitled to severance pay if you resign, and punitive (i.e. extra) severance pay if you are sacked.* That seems reasonable to me, as severance is there to make up for lost pension rights. In Taiwan, however, you are not entitled to severance pay if you resign, unless you can show that you were forced to resign, e.g. by non-oayment of wages or unreasonable changes in work conditions.

Click here for an article on severance pay entitlement in Korea. Nice and clear, though it does not state whether or not severance applies in case of voluntary resignation.

It also seems a bit odd to me, that you would get a severance payment if you resign, but in the english version of the labour law, I couldn’t find any exceptions, except the ones I already mentioned.
Has anybody tried?

Laws database with the Labor law
law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/Fnews/FnewsCo … =undefined

Would severance pay even apply to us if it were in the regulations, as my understanding is that the majority of foreign teachers are considered part time workers?

Personally, I don’t believe that we should be entitled to severance pay as most of us generally more than make up for such a benefit by the amount we earn each month. I would think that if we were to all receive such benefits then our wages would be cut accordingly to counter this. It is the payment of benefits such as this and pensions etc., that keeps wages so low for most occupations.

Having said this, I do put aside a certain percentage of what I earn each month as a kind of superannuation. I invest into a superannuation fund back home, which has been building into quite a nice little next egg.

Foreigners are covered by the Labor Law, but you may have to sue for your entitlements are most Taiwanese assume foreigners aren’t included. I’m not sure how you would get any severance if it was the employee who was severing the contract.

You are an employer’s dream. :wink:

Personally I insist on a severance pay clause in my contracts because if the company fires me before end of the contract this may induce some hardship for me, e.g. time to find a new job during which I am unemployed. In particular when there is a danger of being jobless from one day to the next I consider this important.
I am not a teacher though and assume my contract qualifies as fixed-term.