History

The Rules are prescribed in accordance with Article 57 of the Labor Pension Act (here-in-after referred to as the Act).

Employers applying for contributing to labor pensions in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Article 6 of the Act are required to complete the Application for Labor Pension Contributions (here-in-after referred to as the Application) and the Labor Pension Contributions Report (here-in-after referred to as the Report) and shall submit each to the Bureau (here-in-after referred to as the Bureau).
Those that are already participating in labor insurance or employment insurance are waived from completing the Application, and a serial number will be issued by the Bureau.

Where an employer is declaring the labor pensions shall be contributed in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Article 6 of the Act, a photocopy of the national identification card or a photocopy of the responsible person’s national identification card of the employer and the photocopies of the following documents should be submitted except the employer is one of government institutions, public schools and except the employer is using on-line declaration system provided by government agencies (institutions) to declare:
1. Factory: related identification documents regarding factory registration.
2. Coal Mine: Record of mine registration, licenses for coal mining or exploration.
3. Salt fields, farms, grazing sites, logging sites and tea fields: record of registration.
4. Transportation industries cargo transportation permit or related identification documents.
5. Public works industries: operation license or related identification documents.
6. Companies, shops or stores: company registration records or commercial license.
7. Private educational institutions, news media outlets, cultural enterprises, public interest organizations, cooperative enterprises, fisheries, vocational training centers and civic organizations of all kinds: establishment or registration records.
8. All other business entities: permits or documentation provided by industry supervisory bodies.
Those who cannot obtain the required documentations for the items in the preceding paragraph shall alternatively submit tax deduction records or use generalized and standardized receipts in applying.
For responsible persons submitting copies of national identification cards in accordance with Paragraph 1, non-citizens may submit copies of their residence permits or passports as an alternative.

Should any changes occur in the following, the employer must apply to the Bureau within thirty days:
1. Changes in the name, registered address or contact address of the business entity.
2. Change of responsible persons.
Should the necessary changes fail to be made in accordance with the previous paragraph, the Bureau shall directly make the necessary changes in accordance to the insuring unit of the labor insurance or employment insurance.

The employer who consult and inquire their employee in writing in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Article 9 of the Act, must obtain the employee's personal signature. Two copies of the written inquiry will be made, with the employer and employee receiving one copy each.
The employer shall fill in the results of the inquiry with the choice of the labor pension system which is to be submitted along with the report to the Bureau, and retaining a copy for future reference.
Employees selecting pension system in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Articles 9 of the Act in addition to declaring to employers in writing as stipulated in Paragraph 1, must also declare in writing to the Bureau. Should the written choice submitted by the employer differ from that of the laborer's, the latter version shall be taken.
Employees who choose the labor pension system in accordance Paragraph 2 to Article 9 of the Act must declare in writing and provide a personal signature.

Business entities that have not received permission to implement annuity insurance shall contribute into employees' individual account of labor pension in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Article 6 of the Act.

For business entities inquiring employees' choices of annuity insurance in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Article 35 of the Act, should its employees choose not to participate in annuity insurance, aside from selecting to adopt the retirement mechanism provided for by the Labor Standards Act, the employer shall also contribute to employees' individual account of labor pension.

Upon enforcement of the Act, employees who are notified by the Central Competent Authority that are subject to the Labor Standards Act shall adopt the Labor pension system provided for by the Act, with the employers contributing to individual pension accounts and reporting to the Bureau within 15 days after the Act has come into force. However, those participating in annuity insurance as prescribed in Article 35 of the Act shall not be subject to this deadline.
Assessments of prior seniority, level of pension payment and severance payments of employees who adopt the pension mechanism of the Act as mentioned in the previous paragraph shall be made in accordance with the, Article 84-2 of the Labor Standards Act.

For a employee who is hired by and concurrently works for two or more employers, his or her employers must each contribute into unique individual accounts belonging to the same employee.

For employees who are injured in work-related disasters and as a result cannot work, the employer must in this time period provide the original wage in accordance with Paragraph 2 to Article 59 of the Labor Standards Act in pursuant to the Monthly Contribution Wages Classification of Labor Pension, and continue to contribute labor pension on a monthly basis to injured employees' individual accounts.

In the event that the business entity is reorganized or transferred ownership in the manner prescribed by Article 20 of the Labor Standards Act or is to merger/acquisition as prescribed by the Business Mergers and Acquisitions Act and the Financial Institution Mergers Act, the remaining employees choice of retirement mechanism and retention of annual wages as regulated by Paragraphs 1 and 2 to Article 8, Paragraph 1 to Article 11 or Paragraph 1 to Article 35 of the Act shall be administered by the business entity that remains from the merger, reconstitution or takeover.

Employees shall transfer the agreed retirement payment for paying off in accordance with Paragraph 2 to Article 13 of the Act to individual accounts provided for by the Act; those who fail to meet the requirements stipulated by Article 24 of the Act are not entitled to payment.
Employees who intend to transfer the entire sum of the above-mentioned payment into their individual account of labor pension shall base their calculation of seniority on the method pursuant to Article 24 of the Act. The Bureau or insurers shall be notified of this transfer.
Before the implementation of the annuity insurance provided under Article 25 of the Act, the employees’ calculation of seniority exceeds fifteen years in the preceding paragraph, the entire cumulative amount in their individual account of labor pension shall be paid for monthly pension payment in accordance with Article 23 of the Act.

Those employees who select the labor pension system provided for by the Act and are employed by a business entity that implements an annuity insurance plan must change their original pension system and switch to either individual account of labor pension or participate in annuity insurance.
Changes of the above-mentioned items are restricted to one change per year. Employers who decide to switch must provided written notifications to the Bureau and the insurer within 15 days of making the switch.

For those employees who have previously chosen to contribute to individual account of labor pension at their former job, but have since left and then re-entered the work force and wish to switch to annuity insurance at their current job in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Article 35 of the Act, they may either choose to retain their individual account of labor pension or opt for a one-time transfer of the pension accounts' principal and accrued interest to the annuity insurance plan.
For those employees who have previously chosen to participate in an annuity insurance plan at their previous job, but have since left and reentered the work force and wish to switch to individual account of labor pension at their current job can either retain their annuity insurance or opt for a one-time transfer of their preparatory fund for value of insurance certificate to their individual account of labor pension.
For those employees who have transferred the principals and profits in their individual account of labor pension in accordance with Paragraph 1 , the duration of their labor pension that have already been prepared and allocated shall not be less than two years; for those employees who have transferred the preparatory fund for the value of insurance certificates of the annularity insurance, the duration of the pension premiums that have already been prepared and allocated shall not be less than four years.
Switches made in accordance with Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Article must be processed by the Bureau within 30 days upon receipt of the application.

Labor Pension contributions made in accordance with Paragraphs 1 and 3 to Article 14 of the Act shall be determined and reported by the employer to the Bureau based upon employees' monthly wage earnings as stipulated by the Table of Monthly Contribution Wage Classification. For employees that have no stable monthly wages the rate will be determined using the average of three most recent monthly wages.
In reporting and applying to contribute to the individual account of labor pension of newly hired employees, if final wages are not yet determined, it maybe temporarily substituted with the monthly wage that corresponds to the level of work as specified by the Table of Monthly Contribution Wage Classification.
Insured persons who concurrently participate in labor insurance or national health insurance, besides those whose total monthly wages are lower than the Classification of Labor Insurance Insured Wage, the sum of monthly wage payments may not be lower than the labor insurance insured wage or the premium of the national health insurance.

Employers making the contribution rate to the labor pension per month in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Article 14 of the Act must pay at the same rate every month, with the exception of reporting a different rate for different employees to the Bureau.

Employers who wish to apply for initiation or termination of contributions to labor pension must complete an application that is to be submitted to the Bureau.
For those who do not complete the preceding steps of the application, the Bureau shall either begin or terminate collection of labor pension, temporarily using the starting and ending dates of effectiveness on the labor insurance, employment insurance or withdrawal of insurance or employment insurance and set the monthly rate according to the labor insurance premium rate or national health insurance from the counting of labor pension.

In the event that the relevant documentation submitted for application of labor pension by the employer is incomplete or erroneous, the employer must make the necessary corrections within ten days upon receipt of notice from the Bureau.

In the event that an employee's name, birth-date or national identification serial number has been altered or incorrectly registered, the employer must complete the application to change employee records and submit a copy of his/her own national identification card or equivalent personal identification documents to the Bureau in order to make the necessary changes.
If the procedures outlined in the preceding paragraph are not followed, the Bureau will make the necessary changes based on insured persons' labor insurance or employment insurance records.

Employers who actually perform work, and local workers not applicable to the Labor Standards Act and commissioned managers may voluntarily make their contributions and claim for payments in accordance with Paragraph 2 to Article 7 of the Act provided the rate of contribution may not exceed 6 percent of the monthly wage.
The employers mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be processed in tandem with their hired employees.
Employees mentioned in Paragraph 1 and commissioned managers who voluntarily contribute, the employer may also contribute up to six percent of the monthly wage to his/her individual account.

The employer of an employee who voluntarily contributes to his/her individual account of labor pension in accordance with Paragraph 3 to Article 14 of the Act shall notify the Bureau, deduct the necessary sum from the wage and then combined with the employer's share of contributions to the Bureau and arrange for the ending of voluntary contribution.
The status of voluntary contributions may cease should the owner of the individual account neglect to contribute on a regular basis.

Payment statement of labor pension are prepared on a monthly basis and are to be completed on the thirtieth of every month.
Payments made by the employer for each employee shall be in the New Taiwan dollar, and all figures shall be rounded off to one decimal place.

To contribute to the pension, the employer should bring the payment statements to designated financial institutions for submission or arrange for automatic bank account transfers for payment.

In the event that an employer has not paid the amount specified on the payment statement, the Bureau shall directly distribute proportionately the amount paid by the employer among each employee .

If the payment sum on the pension statement does not correspond with the sum provided by the employer, the employer shall first pay for the amount that appears on the statement and then notify the Bureau of the need for adjustment. Following inspection and clarification by the Bureau, the adjustment will be made during the next payment period.

If an employer has not received the labor pension statements distributed by the Bureau by the fifteenth day of the month, the Bureau shall be notified to resend replacement statements.

In the event that a business entity ceases operation, dissolves, declares bankruptcy or no longer remains in business and no longer employs employees, calculations of its outstanding pension fund payments and additional fines for late payment shall commence from the confirmed date of the occurrence of the above-mentioned events. If this date is indeterminable, the date given by the Bureau shall be used.

For employers who notify and apply with the Bureau for ceasing the contributions to labor pension in accordance with Article 18 and Paragraph 1 to Article 20 of the Act, the portion of voluntary contributions shall also cease.

Employers shall inform their employees of their monthly contribution to labor pension by listing payments on their salary statements or in other written form. Those who contribute voluntarily shall also be informed of their payment sums with a receipt at the end of the year.

Documents related to the pension system selected by the employees as mentioned in Article 8, Paragraphs 1 and 2 to Article 9, or Paragraph 1 to Article 35 and the list of employees maintained by employers in accordance with Paragraph 2 to Article 21 of the Act shall both be kept by the employer or business entity for five years following employees' departures.

The terms life chart of annuity, average life expectancy, interest rate and amount calculations referred to in Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1 to Article 23 of the Act shall be prescribed by the Bureau and submitted to the Central Competent Authority for approval and promulgated be subject to review on a triennial basis.

The profits from the utilization of employees' pension contributed in accordance with Paragraph 2 to Article 32 of the Act shall not be lower than the interest rate paid for a two-year fixed term deposit by local banks, and the average annual interest rate for the time period between the starting date of contribution until the legal date of pension collection shall not be lower than the average rate of interest paid for a two-year fixed term deposit by local banks for an equivalent length of time.
The interest rate of a two-year fixed term deposit by local banks mentioned in the preceding paragraph refers to the calculated annual average interest rate derived from the fixed interest rates on two-year deposits posted at the beginning of each month by the six major banks: the Bank of Taiwan Co., Ltd., First Commercial Bank of Taiwan Co., Ltd., Taiwan Cooperative Bank Co., Ltd., Hua Nan Bank Co., Ltd., Land Bank of Taiwan Co., Ltd.,and Chang Hua Bank Co., Ltd.
The Labor Pension Fund Supervisory Committee (here-in-after referred to as the Supervisory Committee) shall announce on a monthly basis, the current month's lowest guaranteed rate.

For employees applying to receive monthly pension payments, in the event that the sum of a monthly contribution to their individual accounts just misses the designated date of deposit, it shall be counted as having contributed for the time being. For those who fail to contribute into their individual pension account, the difference shall be subtracted from their monthly pension payment.
For those who are receiving their pension payment in one lump-sum payment of retirement, the payment shall be the sum of the principal of their pension fund for the month in which the fund is disbursed. As for subsequent pension contributions, the Bureau shall disburse to the employee without further notification.

The sum of the dividend accrued at the moment an employee applies for pension payments, excluding the dividend that has already been allocated into the pension account, any remaining unallocated dividends will be allocated according to the method used during the previous payment period, applicable only for the month during which the application was submitted. In the event the method used during the previous payment period for dividend allocation does not reach the lowest guaranteed rate, the dividend shall be allocated based on the annual average of lowest guaranteed rates announced by the Supervisory Committee on a monthly basis during the previous payment period.
The annual average mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be calculated to the fourth digit after the decimal point.

In calculating seniority based on the number of years for which contributions to a pension fund were actually made as defined by Paragraph 2 to Article 24, time periods shorter than one year shall be calculated by accounting for the months in which actual contributions were made.
The seniority of those employees participating in annuity insurance pursuant to the Act that have already transferred the total sum of the preparatory fund for value of insurance into their individual account of labor pension, shall be calculated jointly.

For employees who have resumed work after receiving pension funds, the subsequent seniority count shall be reset and employers shall continue to contribute to the employees' original pension account as stipulated in the Act.
The number of times in which employees can receive pension payments or related dividends as described in the preceding paragraph shall be limited to once a year.

Employees applying to receive payment of pension in accordance with Paragraph 1 to Article 28 shall complete an application for collection of pension.

Survivor(s) or designated person(s) applying to claim a deceased employee’s pension as pursuant to Article 28 to the Act shall complete the Application to Claim Employee’s Pension Payment by Survivor(s) or the Application to Claim Employee’s Pension Payment by Designated Person(s), as well as the following documents for submission:
1. Household registration booklets of the deceased employee at the time of death, clinical record of death, state prosecutor’s autopsy report or death certificate.
2. For applicants who are not registered under the same household as the deceased employee, copies of the national identification and relevant household registration records.
3. The person(s) listed as designated person(s) by the written will of a deceased employee shall submit a copy of their national identification cards and a copy of the deceased employee’s will.
If more than one individual claim for pension payments, the procedures stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 27 shall apply. If the written will of the deceased specifies that the pension is divisible, the beneficiaries may make the necessary arrangements after the pension payment is paid out.

In the event that an employee, survivor of a deceased employee or designated person reside abroad or cannot return to claim for pension payment may claim through power of attorney at the ROC embassies, consulates, representative offices abroad, or other agencies authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereinafter as “overseas missions” ) of the Republic of China, or present personal identification documents from the country of residence to arrange for payments.
The power of attorney instrument and the personal identification documents mentioned in the preceding paragraph should include a Chinese translation to be authenticated by overseas missions of the Republic of China. Translations that are not authenticated shall be notarized by a court or notary public of the R.O.C.
The persons claiming for pension payments referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article who are residents of Mainland China and cannot claim for their pension payments in person may do so through power of attorney, which should include personal identification documents. The instrument of the power of attorney and personal identification documents shall be notarized on the mainland and confirmed by an institution approved by the R.O.C. government.

The monthly pension payments stipulated in Paragraph 2 to Article 28 shall be disbursed on a fixed seasonal basis. The dates of dispersion are set as the following:
1. Monthly pension payments due in January through March shall be disbursed before the end of February.
2. Monthly pension payments due in April through June shall be disbursed before the thirty-first of May.
3. Monthly pension payments due in July through September shall be disbursed before the thirty-first of August.
4. Monthly pension payments due in October through December shall be disbursed before the thirtieth of November.
For those who are entitled to receive their first monthly pension payment following approval by the Bureau, payments shall commence on the first month following receipt of their applications.

Pension payments that are to be distributed as stipulated in Paragraph 2 to Article 28 of the Act shall be transferred into individual bank accounts set-up in the name of employees or their survivors or designated persons. In the event that the personal bank accounts are based overseas, any additional handling fees are borne by the beneficiaries.

Employees deemed to be ineligible to receive pension payments by the Bureau have thirty days upon receipt of notice to return the entirety of the pension payments they have received. If the pension payments are not returned on time, an additional late fee penalty must be charged.

The "other revenues " mentioned in Paragraph 4 to Article 32 of the Act refers to any of the following sources of income:
1. Principal and accrued dividends from the individual pension account of a deceased employee who has no surviving family or designated beneficiaries.
2. Remainder of a deceased labor's pension individual account that has not been claimed within the five year application period by surviving family members or designated beneficiaries.

The Bureau in implementing Article 5 and Article 34 of the Act shall comply with final account book keeping requirements, submit a final accounting report, and shall also submit to the Supervisory Committee on a monthly basis the following documents:
1. Statistical records showing the total sum of payment units, the total number of payees, and total sum of wage payments.
2. Statistical record of disbursed pension payments.
3. Statistical record of acquired pension account payments.
4. Other documents which are to be reviewed by the Central Competent Authority.

The following are to be exempted from taxation pursuant to Article 44 of the Act:
1. Account book receipts used during arrangements for labor pension are exempted from stamp taxes.
2. Payment fees, late fees, fines and all other penalty-related proceeds, miscellaneous proceeds and dividends earmarked for pension funds are exempted from operations and income taxes.

The 'specified time limit' for contribution and correction stipulated in Paragraph 3 to Article 49 and Article 19 of the Act shall not exceed a period of thirty days. In the event of a major natural disaster or unavoidable delay, the business entity may be granted an extension of sixty days.

Employers who violate the stipulations of Paragraph 1 to Article 19 of the Act, upon the first day following the expiration of the time limit stipulated in Paragraph 3 to the same Article, shall pay the late fee as pursuant to Paragraph 1 to Article 53 of the Act.

The monthly late fee referred to in Paragraph 1 to Article 53 of the Act shall be assessed on the thirtieth of every month.

Where workers controversy arising out of contract termination , and a lawsuit is filed for claiming pension and severance pay, the worker concerned may request legal aid from Central Competent Authority.
The aforementioned legal aid businesses may be entrusted by the Central Competent Authority to civil organization to operate.

The Bureau shall set the formatting of the documents mentioned in these Rules.

The Rules shall become effective on July 1,2005.
Amended Articles of the Rules shall become effective on the date of promulgation.