What you should know about the new amendment to Taiwan's labor law that takes effect on March 1

台灣勞基法的新修正案於3月1日生效

The new amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), which affects the well-being of over 15 million workers in Taiwan, will take effect on March 1


TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—The new amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), which affects the well-being of over 15 million workers in Taiwan, will take effect on March 1.

Taiwan’s new Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) has said the ministry will conduct labor inspections to strictly enforce the new amendment, which was passed by the country’s legislature in January.

Some of the essence in the new amendment includes the stipulations that the portion of paid annual leave that is not taken within the year can be deferred to the next year, that overtime can be made up by compensatory leave, and that the maximum overtime per month is extended to 54 hours but not exceeding 138 hours in a period of three months. The new amendment also stipulates that seven industry sectors are allowed to have their workers work more than seven days in a row but not exceeding 12 days.

The new labor law amendment takes away the quadrupled pay workers can get from working overtime on their days off. For example, a worker who earns NT$30,000 a month used to earn NT$753 per overtime hour (excluding the day salary); however, beginning from March 1, the same worker will only get NT$168 for one-hour overtime.

With regard to compensation for overtime work, a worker can choose to get paid for overtime or to have compensatory leave on a one-to-one basis.

As for exceptions to the rule of having one day off within seven days, only 12 industry sectors are allowed to have their workers work more than seven days in a row but not exceeding 12 days. The 12 industry sectors include the food and manufacturing sectors as well as the sector of water, electricity and gas sector. Industry sectors not belonging to the 12 sectors will still have to abide by the rule of one day off within seven days.