Even in Mandarin, people sometimes mix up the Ministry (部) with the Department (局 or in some places 處).
There’s some good advice in this thread already, but to recap:
- local labor department (generally at City Hall) – check first to see which days/times they have free lawyers available for quick consultations
- Legal Aid Foundation – make an appointment for a quick consultation
- Taipei City Hall ground floor lawyer service for a quick consultation
- a lawyer you find by yourself
- in Taipei, the Labor Standards Inspection Office (a sub-department of the labor department), or in other cities whatever they call the equivalent, if they have one.
All answers below are based on the assumption that your contract is a labor contract (勞動契約), which is the case for most private sector jobs. See here for an explanation of why it’s sometimes not the case.
Am I entitled to severance pay?
Severance pay applies if Labor Standards Act Art. 11 (getting laid off with cause) or Art. 14 (quitting with cause) applies. Being fired without cause (improper use of Art. 12 by the employer) is a valid reason to quit with cause, but a generic end of contract is just a generic end of contract, so there’s no severance pay unless there happens to be enough of a violation for some other reason to invoke Art. 14. Based on precedent, an employer’s failure to register the worker or employee for labor insurance (when it’s mandatory, which it usually is) is sufficient to invoke Art. 14, and failure to pay 100% of wages on time can be but isn’t if it’s only a “small” amount of money. This is Taiwan though, so precedents are not binding.
Am I entitled to time off to find work?
If you’re being laid off, yes. See LSA Art. 16(?).
Is it legal for them to avoid paying holidays like they’re doing?
No. See LSA Art. 37 and 39, and see the Enforcement Rules of the LSA for the current list of paid statutory holidays. Also see the definition of “wage” in Art. 2, and just in case the employer tries to claim hourly means part-time (even though at 40h/week you’re full-time), also see the MOL’s guidance document for part-time contracts that’s hidden somewhere on its website.
Am I entitled to vacation pay? (As of the end of the contract, I’ll have worked exactly two years at the company. I’ve taken 7 days off total so far during my tenure.)
Yes. See LSA Art. 38(?).
In the unlikely even that I can’t find work by the end of May, am I entitled to file for employment insurance?
Check with the Bureau of Labor Insurance (which administers both labor insurance and employment insurance).
For the LSA etc., see https://www.mol.gov.tw or https://www.moj.gov.tw. The MOL site has labor laws and regulations, plus official interpretation letters but only in Chinese. The MOJ site has all laws such as the Civil Code etc. Don’t trust the English versions 100%.
This is the correct term for the type of dispute, but the process referred to here is labor dispute mediation (勞資爭議調解). Please note, you can get faster service if you let the labor department refer you to another organization, but you can expect a higher quality of mediation if you choose the department’s own mediation service. If a settlement is unlikely (cold day in Hell situation), just get it over with so that you can move to the next step (going to court or requesting a labor inspection). You don’t need to accept any proposed settlement.
Technically there is, but it’s still good advice. If you go directly to court, the court will set up its own mediation before the trial, and if you don’t settle, you can end up doing three mediation sessions. You only get a partial refund of the court fee if you settle, whereas if you go through the labor department (or another organization it refers you to) the mediation is free, and then if there’s no settlement you can skip the court mediation.
I think you’re referring to a complaint to the Labor Standards Inspection Office. If you go this route, the company can be fined if it’s found in violation of the LSA, so that’s a good motivator. If you sue the company, that’s just a civil process (between you and the company), whereas fines are administrative penalties (between the company and the government). In most cases, the fines would be much higher than what the company owes a worker or employee. If you haven’t done mediation already, the company can delay the inspection by requesting mediation.
True. Same problem as any free lawyer service.
#2. If you don’t want to pay out of pocket for a lawyer, you have to prove a lot of stuff. They’re mostly for people who are disabled or really poor.
If you ask them to take on your case, you need to prove your income and assets are low enough (see their website for the exact levels), but for a short consultation all you need is an appointment (unless this has changed recently).
Quality of lawyers varies, whether they’re working for a foundation, for a government office, or directly for a client. Expect most to be unfamiliar with the intricacies of laws-for-foreigners.
I’ll just repeat that for most foreigners, a permanent (non-fixed term) contract is technically impossible. Since OP is a permanent resident, it’s possible. Whether it actually is or isn’t a fixed term contract depends on the facts of the individual case.