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1. The Ministry of Labor (hereinafter referred to as the “MOL”), for the purpose of assisting workers in safeguarding their labor rights and interests, hereby establishes these Directions to subsidize municipal governments, county (city) governments, various Science Park Bureaus under the National Science and Technology Council, and the Bureau of Industrial Parks under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (hereinafter collectively referred to as “administrative agencies”) in providing legal assistance for labor–management dispute mediation.

2. The entities eligible for subsidies are as follows:
(1) Municipal governments of special municipalities.
(2) County (city) governments.
(3) Various Science Park Bureaus under the National Science and Technology Council.
(4) The Bureau of Industrial Parks under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

3. Where a worker, the worker’s statutory agent, or the surviving family members of a worker suffering an occupational accident (hereinafter referred to as an “occupational accident worker”) (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “labor party”) applies for labor–management dispute mediation prior to initiating litigation, and any of the following circumstances applies, the MOL may subsidize legal assistance provided by administrative agencies:
(1) A dispute arising from an occupational accident between the worker and the employer, where the mediation claim concerns occupational accident compensation or damages that the employer has failed to provide in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, collective agreements, or employment contracts.
(2) A dispute between the worker and the employer involving unpaid wages, severance pay, or pension benefits, where the claimed amount exceeds NT$10,000.
(3) A dispute concerning termination of the employment contract, where the mediation claim seeks reinstatement of the employment relationship.
(4) A dispute concerning job reassignment, where the mediation claim asserts the invalidity of the reassignment or seeks restoration to the original position.
(5) Cases determined by the administrative agency to involve complex circumstances where legal assistance is deemed necessary.
Where a worker has the status of an Indigenous person, a person with disabilities, or a new immigrant, and the administrative agency determines that legal assistance is necessary, the scope and monetary limitations set forth in the preceding paragraph shall not apply.
For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, “new immigrant” refers to any of the following persons:
(1) A foreign national, Mainland China area resident, Hong Kong resident, or Macao resident who is married to a national with household registration in the Republic of China and who has been granted residency and lawful employment in Taiwan.
(2) A person described in the preceding subparagraph whose spouse has divorced or deceased and who is permitted by law to continue residing and working in Taiwan.
(3) A person meeting the conditions of the preceding two subparagraphs who has been approved for permanent residence in Taiwan or has acquired ROC nationality through naturalization.

4. The term “legal assistance” as referred to in these Directions means that an administrative agency assigns an attorney, who is retained by the labor party, to accompany and assist the labor party in attending labor–management dispute mediation meetings.
Where the labor party meets the condition specified in Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article, the administrative agency may, in addition to the assistance set forth in the preceding paragraph, provide the following assistance:
(1) Assigning an attorney to provide legal consultation prior to the convening of the labor–management dispute mediation meeting.
(2) Assigning interpreters to provide translation assistance during legal consultations and mediation meetings.
The MOL shall maintain a roster of legal assistance attorneys for use by administrative agencies in assigning attorneys. Where an administrative agency maintains its own roster of legal assistance attorneys, such roster shall be submitted to the MOL for recordation by the end of December each year for the following year.

5. When applying for subsidies, administrative agencies shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) Depending on the circumstances of each case, proactively inquire whether the labor party applying for labor–management dispute mediation is willing to accept legal assistance, and obtain a signed power of attorney authorization letter (Attachment 1) and declaration (Attachment 2).
(2) Where assistance under Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 2 of the preceding Article is provided, the assigned attorney shall complete a Legal Consultation Service Record Form (Attachment 3).
(3) Where assistance under Subparagraph 2 of Paragraph 2 of the preceding Article is provided, the labor party shall sign a declaration (Attachment 4).
(4) No subsidy shall be granted where, prior to the mediation meeting, the labor party has already retained an attorney independently or has been assigned an attorney by the Legal Aid Foundation to represent the labor party in the mediation meeting.
(5) No subsidy shall be granted where, prior to the mediation meeting, the labor party has already retained an interpreter independently.
(6) Attorneys assigned by administrative agencies for legal assistance shall first be selected from the roster maintained by the MOL; where assignment from the MOL roster is not possible, attorneys may be selected from the roster filed with the MOL pursuant to the preceding Article.
(7) The total number of cases assisted pursuant to Subparagraph (5), Paragraph 1 of Article 3 shall not exceed one-tenth of the total number of cases submitted for reimbursement, and the reasons for providing assistance shall be recorded in the Case Summary Table (Attachment 5).

6. The standards for subsidizing attorney remuneration paid by administrative agencies are as follows:
(1) Where an attorney is retained to accompany the labor party in attending a labor–management dispute mediation meeting, a subsidy of NT$3,000 per session shall be provided.
(2) For labor–management disputes arising from the same underlying facts and causes, subsidy shall be limited to one mediation session. However, where the administrative agency determines that the matter is complex and that reconvening a labor–management dispute mediation meeting would facilitate successful mediation, subsidies may be granted for up to three sessions.
(3) Where an attorney provides legal consultation prior to the convening of a labor–management dispute mediation meeting, the consultation time shall be limited to one hour per session, with a subsidy of NT$2,000 per hour; where the consultation is less than one hour, payment shall be reduced by half.
The standards for subsidizing interpretation fees paid by administrative agencies are as follows: the interpretation time per session shall be limited to four hours; a subsidy of NT$1,000 shall be provided for the first two hours, and from the third hour onward, a subsidy of NT$500 shall be provided per hour.
Where, at the commencement of a labor–management dispute mediation meeting, the labor party is accompanied by another retained attorney or interpreter, or where the labor party fails to attend and legal consultation, mediation, or interpretation services cannot be carried out, or where other circumstances not attributable to the assigned attorney or interpreter prevent performance of duties, the administrative agency may still pay attorney remuneration or interpretation fees.
Where the circumstances described in the preceding paragraph result in failure to reach mediation or inability to proceed with mediation-related procedures, no further subsidy shall be granted for the same case.

7. Attorneys assigned by administrative agencies shall not engage in any of the following:
(1) Charging the labor party any remuneration or fees under any name or pretext.
(2) Acting as litigation counsel for the labor party. However, this restriction shall not apply where the attorney is assigned by the Legal Aid Foundation to provide litigation assistance to the labor party.
Interpreters assigned by administrative agencies shall not charge the labor party any remuneration or fees under any name or pretext.

8. Before the end of January each year, the MOL shall determine and allocate subsidy amounts to administrative agencies based on the following items. However, the annual allocation amounts may be adjusted at any time according to the implementation status of administrative agencies:
(1) The number of labor–management dispute mediation cases from January to October of the preceding year involving disputes concerning contracts, payment of wages, severance pay, pension benefits, or occupational accident compensation;
(2) The implementation performance of the subsidies utilized during the preceding year.

9. Administrative agencies shall, within one month after the MOL approves the subsidy amount, submit an official written request to the MOL for full disbursement of the portion not exceeding NT$150,000. For the portion exceeding NT$150,000, the administrative agency shall describe the implementation status and submit an official written request to the MOL for disbursement of the remaining amount before the end of August of the same year.
When applying for disbursement of funds, administrative agencies shall submit the following documents:
(1) A photocopy of the MOL’s approval document.
(2) A receipt.
(3) Account information of the administrative agency.

10. Before November 15 of each year, administrative agencies shall submit the following documents to the MOL to complete the settlement of accounts for the period from November of the preceding year to October of the current year:
(1) Case Summary Table.
(2) Statement of Expenditure Report (Attachment 6).

11. Subsidy funds under these Directions shall be deposited into a dedicated account established specifically for projects subsidized by the Employment Security Fund, and shall be interest-bearing and used exclusively for their designated purpose.
Administrative agencies shall not offset or appropriate the interest generated from the dedicated account. When conducting annual expenditure verification, any remaining balance and accrued interest in the dedicated account shall be returned to the MOL.

12. Where any of the following circumstances applies, subsidies may be withheld for the current year:
(1) Late submission of settlement reports for the relevant period.
(2) Failure to preserve original records in accordance with Article 25 of the Regulations for the Mediation of Labor-Management Disputes, or loss of such records not attributable to force majeure.
(3) Mediation cases applying for legal assistance that do not conform to the facts.
(4) Other violations of laws or regulations related to labor–management dispute mediation.
Where the circumstance described in Subparagraph 3 of the preceding paragraph occurs, the MOL shall recover the subsidized funds and handle the matter in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
Where cases submitted by administrative agencies do not comply with Article 3 of these Directions, such cases shall not be subsidized.

13. Administrative agencies receiving subsidies shall not evade, obstruct, or refuse the MOL’s verification of relevant materials or unscheduled inspections.

14. Administrative agencies shall compile and bind, in chronological order according to the dates of mediation meetings, relevant documents for subsidized cases, including labor–management dispute mediation records, attorney authorization letters, declarations, legal consultation service record forms, and other related materials. The retention and disposal of such records shall be handled in accordance with the Archives Act and relevant regulations.

15. The funding required under these Directions shall be appropriated from the relevant budget items allocated for the current fiscal year. The granting or suspension of subsidies may be adjusted in accordance with budget availability. Where the annual budget is reduced or where factors not attributable to the MOL result in insufficient funding to support the subsidies under these Directions, the MOL may suspend subsidies or decide not to grant them from the outset.