History

These regulations are formulated according to Article 22 of the Middle-Aged and Elderly Employment Promotion Act (“hereinafter referred to as the “Act”).

The employers set forth in these regulations shall mean private enterprises, associations or private schools which are the insured units of the employment insurance.
The associations set forth in the preceding paragraph shall refer to associations which are established according to the Civil Association Act or any other law or regulation. However, political groups or political parties are not associations for the purpose of these regulations.

The measures for creating employment stability in Chapter Three of the Act shall include the following items:
1. Subsidy for vocational training;
2. Counseling and subsidy for job accommodation and assistive occupational devices;
3. Counseling and incentives for cooperation between generations; and
4. Subsidy for continuous employment.

If an employer assigns its middle-aged employees or elderly employees to participate in vocational training in view of receiving subsidy from the central competent authority as per Paragraph One of Article 18 of the Act, the training shall be limited to those courses which are open for enrollment and organized by domestic training units.

An employer which assigns its middle-aged employees or elderly employees to participate in vocational training shall submit the following documents and information to the central competent authority for review:
1. Application form;
2. The training plan covering the entire calendar year which shall contain the potential trainees and the summary statement of the budget estimate;
3. Photocopy of the registration certificate which shows that the employer is established according to the law;
4. Photocopies of the payment slip of the labor insurance premiums and detailed statement covering the most recent period of the current year;
5. The business tax payment certificate of the most recent period or certificate of no tax violations and tax arrears; and
6. Any other document or information required by the central competent authority.
The employer shall take into consideration the rights of middle-aged employees or elderly employees at all levels to ensure workers at the entry level to have the right to receive occupational training.
After the training plan set forth in Subparagraph Two of Paragraph One has been approved, the employer shall record into the subsidy for training to be handled by enterprises information system three days before the scheduled training date and also report the training courses which were carried out in the previous month before the 10th day of each month.
In the event that the employer changes the contents of the training courses, it shall apply to the central competent authority for the change three days before the scheduled training date.
If the documents and information specified in Paragraph One are not fully submitted, the employer shall complete the omitted documents or information before the stipulated deadline notified by the central competent authority. If the said documents or information is still not completed within the deadline, the employer’s application shall be rejected.

If an employer assigns its middle-aged employees or elderly employees to participate in vocational training, it may apply to the central competent authority for the maximum of 70% of the training fees. However, the upper limit of the total subsidies may not exceed the amount separately announced by the central competent authority.

After the training plan submitted by an employer according to Article 5 has been reviewed, approved and fully implemented, the employer shall submit the following documents and information to the central competent authority to apply for subsidies in the same calendar year:
1. Photocopies of receipts or certificates of payments and cover page of the passbook;
2. Roster of the actual participants;
3. Detailed statement of the implementation of the training plan and training expenditures;
4. Detailed statement of original certificates of expenditures and expenditure vouchers;
5. Training records and performance report; and
6. Any other document or information required by the central competent authority.

The employer shall implement the training according to the approved training plan set forth in Article 5. If the participation rate of a single class is lower than 60% of the expected participants for two consecutive years without justified reason and the number of class with unsatisfactory participation rate also exceeds one third of the approved classes, its application for the following year shall be rejected.

If an employer has any of the following situations when implementing the plan, the course will not be subsidized and all or part of the decision of approval will be revoked:
1. The employer unilaterally changed part of the training plan without consent or the employer failed to carry out the training according to the approved training plan and course schedule;
2. The employer failed to record into the information system three days before the scheduled training date, or report back the training courses before the 10th day of the next month following the date of training; or
3. The course has already received subsidies from another government agency.

If an employer has any of the following situations, the central competent authority shall not subsidize its training expenses. If the original decision on granting subsides was revoked or cancelled, the central competent authority shall order the employer to return the subsidies within the stipulated deadline:
1. The employer did not carry out the training according to the approved training plan and course schedule and also failed to apply for the change within the deadline for more than two times; or
2. The employer applied for the training subsidy without conforming to the expenditure verification schedule.

If an employer carried out job accommodation or provided assistive occupational devices according to Paragraph One of Article 19 of these regulations, it may apply to the central competent authority for counseling service or subsidies.
The amount of subsidy in the preceding paragraph shall be determined by the number of applicants. The subsidy for each person each year may not exceed One Hundred Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$100,000); however, such limitation may not apply if the component authority approves in advance after it evaluates and determines the case of special needs.

The counseling or subsidized items of job accommodation or provision of assistive occupational devices set forth in the preceding article are as follows:
1. Provision of assistive occupational devices: assistive devices which are intended to help eliminate work obstacles of the middle-aged persons and elderly persons so as to maintain, improve and enhance their employability;
2. Improvement of work equipment or machinery: improvement made to the work equipment or machinery in order to improve the work efficiency of middle-aged persons and elderly persons so as to increase their productivity;
3. Improvement of workplace environment: improvement made to the workplace environment so as to create employment stability for middle-aged persons and elderly persons;
4. Improvement of working conditions: provision of necessary work-related assistance for middle-aged persons and elderly persons to improve their work conditions; and
5. Adjustment of work methods: through analysis and training, arrangement of suitable work is made for middle-aged persons and elderly persons according to their characteristics.
If any of the preceding paragraph is defined as the employer’s duty or responsibility according to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, no subsidy shall be granted.

An employer filing application for job accommodation or provision of assistive occupational devices according to Article 11 shall submit the following documents and information to the competent authority for review:
1. Application form;
2. Photocopy of the registration certificate which shows that the employer is established according to the law;
3. Photocopy of certificate of insurance or employment certificate; and
4. Any other document or information required by the central competent authority.
If the documents and information specified in the preceding paragraph are not fully submitted, the omitted documents or information shall be completed within the stipulated deadline notified by the competent authority. If the said documents or information are still not submitted within the deadline, its application shall be rejected.

If the competent authority receives an application for subsidy for job accommodation or assistive occupational devices, it may invite experts and academics to visit, inspect the site and provide counseling service and may also hold review committee to review the application cases in order to evaluate the actual needs, necessity, feasibility, budget rationality and potential to remove work obstacles.

An employer applying for the subsidy according to Article 13 shall submit the following documents and information within 30 days after the subsidized item has been fully implemented in order to apply to the competent authority for disbursement and expenditure verification:
1. Photocopy of approval letter;
2. Receipt;
3. Performance report;
4. Accounting report or list of revenues and expenditures; and
5. Original certificate of invoice or receipt;
If the documents and information set forth in the preceding paragraph are not fully submitted, the employer shall complete the omitted documents or information within the stipulated deadline notified by the competent authority. If the said documents or information are not completed within the deadline, the application shall be rejected.

In the event that a subsidized assistive occupational device has any of the following situations and the position using the said subsidized device has become vacant within two years after the subsidy was received and no middle-aged person or elderly person is employed to use the device, the employer shall report to the competent authority to take back possession of the assistive devise:
1. The device is fully subsidized and can be used repeatedly;
2. The service life of the device has not yet expired; or
3. The device shall be taken back after the evaluation according to Article 14.
The service life set forth in Subparagraph Two of the preceding paragraph shall be determined according to the following order:
1. If the device is listed in the subsidy for assistive device for the disabled reference table of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the service life specified in the reference table shall apply
2. The service life specified in the Standards of Classification for Properties published by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics of the Executive Yuan.
3. If the device does not fall into the preceding two categories, the service life shall be two years.

Cooperation promotion between generations set forth in Paragraph One of Article 20 of the Act shall mean that an employer has its middle-aged employees or elderly employees to work with another employees who are at least 15 years younger by way of teamwork, adjustment of work content or any other means for a same kind of work.

An employer shall promote cooperation between generations set forth in the proceeding paragraph with the following methods:
1. Talent cultivation method: the middle-aged employee or elderly employee guides and teaches young generation employee by passing down his or her knowledge, technology and practical experiences;
2. Work sharing method: employees of different generations cooperate by way of complementing each other or sharing work time and both parties shall have common work time;
3. Mentors method: integrate the expertise of the employees of different generations and both act as mentors to the other to promote operational efficiency;
4. Complementary ability method: to re-organize work, to plan work or to adjust planning or performance according to the abilities of employees of different generations; or
5. Any other method to promote cooperation between generations.
In order to promote cooperation between generations, enhance exchanges between generations and pass down experiences, the competent authority may hire experts, academics or persons with practical experiences to provide counseling service and guidance as per the needs of the employer.

The central competent authority may publicly commend the employers which have had outstanding performance in promoting cooperation between generations set forth out in the preceding article by presenting trophies (medals) and award money.
The incentive activity in the preceding paragraph shall in principle be held every two years. Matters related to the awards shall be separately announced by the central competent authority.

An employer applying for the subsidy prescribed in Article 21 of the Act shall meet the following requirements:
1. The said employer shall continue to employ the employees who meet the requirement set forth in Subparagraph One of Paragraph One of Article 54 of the Labor Standards Act and the number of such employees reaches 30% of the total employees who meet the aforementioned requirement;
2. The employer intends to continue to employ the said employees for more than six months; and
3. The employee’s salary during the period of continuous employment may not be lower than his or her original salary.
The employee referred to in Subparagraph One of the preceding Paragraph may not be the spouse or a relative by blood within the third degree of the employer.

An employer meeting the requirements set forth in the preceding article shall submit the following documents and information to the public employment service agency to apply for the subsidy for continuous employment for the following year during the application period announced by the central competent authority every year, and the application will be sent to the central competent authority for review:
1. Application form;
2. Continuous employment plan;
3. Photocopy of the registration certificate which shows that the employer is established according to the law;
4. Labor insurance certificate or occupational accident insurance certificate of the employee who is subject to continuous employment;
5. Certificate of salary of the employee who is subject to continuous employment for the most recent three months; and
6. Any other document or information required by the central competent authority.
The employer shall submit the employment certificate and salary certificate during the period of continuous employment as well as the photocopy of the approval letter issued by the central competent authority to apply to the public employment service agency for the subsidy for continuous employment within 90 days upon the expiry of the six-month period of continuous employment .
An employer having applied for the subsidy in Paragraph One may not apply for any allowance or subsidy which has similar nature with those in these regulations.

If the total days of continuous employment are less than 30 days, it may not be counted; and the subsidy for continuous employment shall be granted according to the period of continuous employment as per the following:
1. If the employee agrees with the employer that he or she will be paid with a monthly salary, the subsidy shall be granted according to the following criteria:
(1) If the period of continuous employment reaches six months, a subsidy of Thirteen Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$13,000) per person per month will be granted from the first month of employment according to the number of such employees. The subsidy for six months will be paid at once.
(2) If the period of continuous employment exceeds six months, a subsidy of Fifteen Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$15,000) per person per month will be granted from the seventh month of employment according to the number of such employees. The subsidy will be paid on quarterly basis and the maximum subsidy period shall be up to 12 months.
2. If the employee agrees with the employer that he or she will be paid other than the method set forth in the preceding subparagraph, the subsidy shall be paid according to the following criteria:
(1) If the period of continuous employment reaches six months, a subsidy of Seventy New Taiwan Dollars (NT$70) per hour per person will be granted from the first month of employment according to the number of such employees. However, the maximum monthly payment is Thirteen Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$13,000). The subsidy for six months will be paid at once.
(2) If the period of continuous employment exceeds six months, a subsidy of Eighty New Taiwan Dollars (NT$80) per hour per person will be granted from the seventh month of employment according to the number of such employees. However, the maximum monthly payment is Fifteen Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$15,000). The subsidy will be paid on quarterly basis and the maximum subsidy period shall be up to12 months.
If the remuneration method between the employer and the employee has changed during the aforementioned subsidy period, the said change shall be reported to the public employment service agency for record and inspection.

The competent authority and public employment service agency may check and verify the relevant documents and information in order to inspect the implementation of these regulations. The employer may not avoid, interfere or reject such investigation.

Unless otherwise provided for herein, if an employer has any of the following situations, the competent authority shall reject to grant the incentives or subsidies. Where the said incentives or subsidies have already been paid but shall be revoked or cancelled thereafter, the competent authority shall order the employer to return such incentives within the stipulated deadline:
1. The employer made untruthful application or was overpaid;
2. The contents of implementation differ from the approved plan;
3. The employer did not materially employ the middle-aged persons and elderly persons;
4. The employer avoided, interfered or rejected investigation conducted by the competent authority or public employment service agency;
5. The employer has already received similar subsidy of the same nature from government agency;
6. The employer has violated the requirement of these regulations; or
7. The employer has violated other relevant labor law or regulation and the violation is serious.
If the situation in Subparagraph One of the preceding paragraph occurs, the competent authority may cease to grant subsidies to the said employer for two years.

The forms and documents required by these regulations shall be prescribed separately by the central competent authority.

The central competent authority shall set aside the budget for the implementation of these regulations.

These regulations shall enter into force on December 4, 2020.