Relevant labor pension provisions are amended(Taiwan)

2016.11.16
Melanie Lo

The President promulgated Articles 5, 24, 46 and 48, as amended, of the Labor Pension Statute (hereinafter, the “Statute”) via the President-Hua-Zhong-One-Yi No. 10500140121 Directive of November 16, 2016. The amendments are highlighted below:

1. Modification of the competent authority for labor pension
Article 5 of the Statute specifically provides that the collection and expenditure and custody of labor pension as well as the levy of delinquent charges and the imposition of fines shall be entrusted by the central competent authority to the Labor Insurance Bureau (hereinafter, the “Bureau”) of the Ministry of Labor.

2. Additional requirement that one-time pension may be collected by pensioners who have worked for 15 years
Under Article 24, Paragraph 1, as amended, of the Statute, if a worker has reached 60 with at least 15 years in service, one-time pension may be collected unless monthly pension is selected.

3. Change of continuous monthly penalties into penalty upon each instance of violation in case of an insurer’s failure to inform the Bureau
In case of violation of Article 36, Paragraph 2 of the Statute, which provides that an insurer shall notify the Bureau of the status of collection and payment of the payable insurance premiums by the seventh day of the following month after the payment deadline, the continuous monthly penalties until rectification are changed where Article 46, as amended, of the Statute provides: “The violator shall be ordered to rectify; and failure to rectify within the required period shall be subject to penalty upon each instance of violation.” _

4. Increased maximum penalty for an employer’s violation for refusing to provide information or for imposing unfavorable measures upon complaining workers
In case of violation of Article 40 of the Statute, if the provision of information such as a list of workers of the business unit and relevant information, which the competent authority, labor inspection agency or the Bureau may check and verify, is declined or if unfavorable measures are imposed on complaining workers, the penalty which was previously maxed at NT$150,000 is changed into a penalty of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under Article 48 of the Statute as amended.