Easily hire employees in Taiwan

There are several permissible reasons for the dismissal of an employee, including the closure of a business or transfer of ownership, the suspension of company operations for more than one month due to external factors, the need to reduce the number of employees due to a change in the company’s business nature and the absence of suitable job openings for redundant employees, as well as confirmed incompetence of an employee in carrying out assigned work. In cases where dismissal is necessary, the employer must provide notice and pay severance to the employee, except in situations where the employee has misrepresented facts at the time of signing the employment contract, engaged in violence against the employer, the employer’s family, or fellow employees, has been absent from work for three consecutive days or for six days in a month without a valid reason, or caused intentional damage.

During their probationary period, Taiwanese employees will receive a notice period of up to 10 days, whereas once they have completed their probation, they are eligible for a notice period of up to 30 days.

Severance pay is not mandated by law, and a termination without justifiable cause is considered illegitimate. Negotiation usually determines the amount of severance pay, which should be differentiated from other types of payments that might be required upon termination, such as a contractual retirement allowance.

An employer in Taiwan is obligated to provide certain statutory benefits as a part of their employee’s compensation package. These benefits comprise of:

• 13th-month pay, which is a customary payment made during the Lunar New Year and must be specified in the employee’s contract.
• Social security benefits, which are accessible to all resident and nonresident employees, including maternity benefits, unemployment benefits, pension benefits, health insurance, sick pay, and labor insurance.
• Statutory Leaves, which must be outlined in the employee’s compensation package and made clear through contract negotiations with potential hires. Employers must also offer a workweek consisting of 40 hours per week, with an employee allowed to work up to 8 hours per day for five or six days a week, along with two days off for every seven days worked, including one mandatory leave and one flexible leave.
• Overtime pay, which must be paid to an employee if they work additional hours due to business needs. The overtime pay rate is 34% of an employee’s regular salary for the first two hours, and 167% of an employee’s regular salary for the next two hours.

After the client signs the SOW, the onboarding process typically requires two-three business days.

Employee contract

The employment agreement can be written in Mandarin, Hokkien, English, or any language that is mutually comprehensible. However, if there are any legal disputes regarding the contract, it must be translated into Chinese before being presented as evidence in court.

Probation period

In Taiwan, there is no fixed or mandatory probation period specified by law. Employers and employees have the flexibility to mutually agree upon the duration of the probationary period. There is no maximum limit set for the length of the probationary period. However, it is customary for the probationary period to last for three months, during which the employer evaluates the employee’s performance before deciding whether to hire them permanently.