History

The Regulations are prescribed in accordance with Paragraph 4 to Article 6 of the Act for Settlement of Labor-Management Disputes (here-in-after referred to as the Act).

The scope of aids for labor-management disputes includes the following:
1. Agent remuneration for civil litigation procedures, injunctive procedures, supervisory procedures, compulsory execution procedures and drafting legal documents.
2. Agent remuneration for accusation service before the commencement of criminal trial procedures.
3. Agent remuneration for arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration Act.
4. Necessary living expenses required for litigation period.

When a worker insufficient in financial resources files a civil litigation due to unsuccessful mediation by the competent authority and has one of the following situations, he/she may apply for the aids referred to in Subparagraph 1 of the preceding article:
1. Dispute with employer involving labor contract termination in accordance with the Labor Standards Act, unpaid severance or retirement payment (labor pension).
2. Employer failing to compensate or pay damages for occupational accidents.
3. Employer failing to insure the worker in accordance with the Labor Insurance Act or the Employment Insurance Act or under-declaring insured salary that causes damage to the worker.
Once the lawsuit has entered the second instance, third instance or retrial, the worker may apply for the aid prescribed in Subparagraph 1 of the preceding Article without going through mediation by the competent authority.
If the worker has deceased or is incapacitated due to other reasons, his/her survivor or guardian may apply for the aids referred to in Subparagraph 2 of Paragraph 1.
When a worker applies for the aids referred to in Subparagraph 1 of the preceding article, he/she shall file within 180 days from the date that the procedures concerned commence.

When the employer acts according to Paragraph 1, Article 48 of Act for Settlement of Labor-Management Disputes and files a civil litigation against a worker over the same case that has been confirmed by the Committee on Unfair Labor Practices as an unfair labor practice and the worker in concern lacks sufficiency in financial resources, the worker may apply for the aid prescribed in Subparagraph 1 of Article 2 without going through mediation by the competent authority.

When a worker deficient in financial resources files a criminal accusation due to the occurrence of occupational accident caused by an employer’s violation of the Labor Safety and Health Act, the worker or a person legally acting on his/her behalf as an accuser may apply for the aids referred to in Subparagraph 2 of Article 2.

The term sufficiency in financial resources referred to in the preceding three articles denotes that the applicant earns a total income exceeding N.T. $ eighty thousand (here-in-after the same) per month or owns assets in total value more than three million at the time of application. However, the real estate that the applicant owns and lives is not included.

The standards of remuneration for agency service of civil litigation are as follows:
1. Forty thousand in maximum per instance for individual application or up to sixty thousand for a complicated case if deemed necessary after reviewing.
2. One hundred thousand in maximum per instance for joint application or up to one hundred and twenty thousand for a complicated case if deemed necessary after reviewing.
3. Thirty thousand in maximum for each application for injunctive procedures.
4. Ten thousand in maximum for each application for supervisory procedures.
5. Forty thousand in maximum for each application for compulsory execution procedures.
6. Ten thousand in maximum for each application for legal document drafting.

When more than one worker individually and separately apply for remuneration for agency service of civil litigation with regard to the labor dispute of the same reasons and facts, their applications may be combined as one single case of application.

Persons apply for remuneration for agency service of civil litigation shall submit the following documents:
1. Application form.
2. Statement and relevant evidence concerning labor dispute.
3. Statement and relevant documents concerning the situation of sufficiency in financial resources of the worker and his/her relatives living in the same domicile.
4. A photocopy of unsuccessful mediation record issued by the labor competent authority of the municipal or county/city government.
5. An affidavit of not receiving aids from other government agencies.
Persons applying for aids in accordance with Article 3-1 of the Act shall also submit the decision award on unfair labor practices.

When there is one of the following situations, the application for remuneration for agency service of civil litigation will be rejected:
1. The litigation will bring no substantial benefit or its winning prospect is apparently none.
2. The same item of aids for the same case has been provided by other government agencies.
3. The application is inconsistent with Article 3 or 3-1.
4. The application is inconsistent with Article 4.
5. The application documents or proof are counterfeit, forged, false or invalid.
6. The application is not filed within a given period, or the application documents are incomplete and not corrected within the given period after being notified.
7. The benefits for the worker from winning the case are less than the remuneration for the attorney-at-law. However, the case with significant impact or meaning on the society and public interests is not included.
8. The counterpart of the case is the Executive Yuan or the Central Competent Authority and its subordinate agencies (institutions).
9. The application is inconsistent with the objectives of the aids prescribed in the Act.

When the application is approved after reviewing, the applicant shall appoint a suitable attorney-at-law from the name list of attorneys-at-law for legal aids provided by the Central Competent Authority.
The Central Competent Authority shall assign an attorney-at-law from the name list of attorneys-at-law if the applicant cannot appoint one in accordance with the preceding paragraph.
The appointed attorney-at-law shall charge the rate for the legal service in accordance with the standards of remuneration for agency service of civil litigation, and shall not charge any extra expenses.
The Central Competent Authority shall remove an attorney-at-law in violation of the preceding paragraph from the name list of attorneys-at-law for aids.

When a case of aids has been approved, the appointed attorney-at-law shall prepare such documents as indictment, statement of claims, his/ her bank account, notices of court session and related receipts within ninety days from the date of approval and apply to the Central Competent Authority for appropriation.
When a case of aids has been approved, if the appointed attorney-at-law who has successfully achieved mediation or settlement prescribed in the Civil Procedures Act shall be paid for the rate of his/her legal service in accordance with the standards of remuneration for agency service of civil litigation.

When a case of aids has been approved, if the applicant fails to comply with the requirements concerning the implementation of aids without justifiable reasons and the case cannot be processed further, the Central Competent Authority may terminate his/her aids.
When a case of aids has been approved, if the applicant has one of the situations prescribed in Subparagraph 2 or 5 of Article 9, the Central Competent Authority may revoke his/her aids.
When any of the situations referred to in the two preceding paragraphs occurs, the Central Competent Authority shall order the applicant to return all the remuneration that has been appropriated to the appointed attorney-at-law within a given period. If the applicant does not return within the given period, retrieving measures shall be taken in accordance with related statutes.
The applicant who fails to return the expenses in accordance with the preceding paragraph shall not be allowed to apply for the aids referred to in Article 2 within five years from the date of terminating or revoking his/her aids.

When a worker, his/her survivors, or his/her guardians filing for arbitration in accordance with Paragraph 3 to Article 6 of the Act may apply to the Central Competent Authority for the aids concerning the agent remuneration for arbitration, the standards are as follows:
1. Forty thousand in maximum for individual application.
2. One hundred thousand in maximum for collective application.

The application for the aids of agent remuneration for arbitration referred to in the preceding article shall be filed with the following documents no later than 30 days after completing the arbitration procedures:
1. Application form.
2. Written agreement for arbitration.
3. Written statement of claims for arbitration.
4. Proof of payment for arbitration;
5. Consent letter from the selected arbitrator.
6. Remuneration receipt from the attorney-at-law.
7. An affidavit of not receiving aids from other government agencies.
When the application documents referred to in the preceding paragraph are incomplete and not corrected within a given period after being notified, the application shall be rejected.
When a case of aids has been approved, the applicant shall prepare receipts and bank account for appropriation within seven days from the date of receiving the official document of approval and apply to the Central Competent Authority for appropriation.

If the application documents or proof are found counterfeit, forged, false or invalid after the appropriation in accordance with Paragraph 3 of the preceding article, the Central Competent Authority may revoke his/her aids and shall order the applicant to return the total amount of aids. If the applicant does not return within a given period, retrieving measures shall be taken in accordance with related statutes.
The applicant who fails to return the expenses in accordance with the preceding paragraph shall not be allowed to apply for the aids referred to in Article 2 within five years from the date of revoking his/her aids.

When a worker files a lawsuit because of disputes over labor contract termination and is unemployed during litigation period, if he/she having one of the following situations may apply to the Central Competent Authority for aids for necessary living expenses required for litigation period (here-in-after referred to as Living Expenses Aids):
1. Who is qualified to receive full aids in accordance with the Legal Aids Act.
2. Who is qualified as deficiency in financial resources after review.
3. Who files a lawsuit because of the dispute over gender equality in employment, and is qualified to receive aids in accordance with the Regulations for Providing Legal Aids in Lawsuits Concerning Gender Equality in Employment and also as deficiency in financial resources.
The Central Competent Authority shall define the deficiency in financial resources referred to in Subparagraphs 2 and 3 of the preceding paragraph in accordance with the standards for reviewing deficiency in financial resources prescribed in the Legal Aids Act.
The lawsuit filed for the disputes over labor contract termination prescribed in Paragraph 1 includes one of the following situations:
1. Claims for severance or retirement payment (labor pension).
2. Claims for ascertaining the existence of employment relationship.
3. Claims for compensation for occupational accidents from the employer in accordance with related statutes.

When a worker applies for Living Expenses Aids for the first time, he/she shall registrate at a public employment services institution for job placement.
When a worker continues to apply for Living Expenses Aids, he/she shall in person apply for job placement to the public employment services institution each time and submit two job-interview records.
The job-interview record referred to in the preceding paragraph denotes to the job-interview result card sealed and returned by the job recruiting unit.
The period of aids for each time shall begin on the date of job placement application, and the two job interviews shall be recorded within thirty days from the date of job placement application.
A worker shall not concurrently apply for Living Expenses Aids during the period of receiving unemployment benefit of employment insurance, living allowance for vocational training, temporary work allowance, injury or sickness benefit of labor insurance, old-age benefit of labor insurance, allowance or aids prescribed in the Act of Protecting Workers of Occupational Accidents, or related litigation aids from other government agencies.

A worker applying for Living Expenses Aids shall submit the following documents:
1. Application form.
2. A photocopy of indictment, oral or written defense statement, or appealing statement.
3. Statement and relevant documents concerning the situation of sufficiency in financial resources of the worker and his/her relatives living in the same domicile, or a photocopy of approval notice of the aids issued in accordance with the Legal Aids Act.
4. Proof of job placement.
5. Job-interview records prescribed in Paragraphs 2 and 3 to Article 17.
6. Affidavit for necessary living expenses of the aided worker required for litigation period.
When a worker applies for the aids in accordance with Subparagraph 3 of Paragraph 1 to Article 16, he/she shall also submit a photocopy of approval notice of the aids issued in accordance with the Regulations for Providing Legal Aids in Lawsuits Concerning Gender Equality in Employment.

The period of receiving Living Expenses Aids shall begin on the date of applying for job placement for the first time after the litigation till the date of final ruling or settlement of the court.
When a worker applies for Living Expenses Aids again, if the days of applying for job placement are overlapping with the previous period of receiving Living Expenses Aids, the overlapping days shall be deducted.
The standard of Living Expense Aids shall be given an amount equivalent to the sixty percent of insured salary of the first grade in accordance with the Table of Grades of Insured Salary of Labor Insurance; the maximal days of aids shall be one hundred and eighty days, and each period of aids shall be thirty days and calculated in portion if less than thirty days.

When there is one of the following situations, the application for the Living Expenses Aids shall be rejected:
1. The application is inconsistent with subparagraphs prescribed in Paragraph 1 or 3 to Article 16.
2. The situations prescribed in Paragraph 5 to Article 17 exist.
3. The application documents or proof are counterfeit, forged, false or invalid.
4. The litigation will bring no substantial benefit or its winning prospect is apparently none.
When the causes for rejecting aids application referred to in the preceding paragraph disappear, the worker may file the application again.
If there is one of the following situations after the application for Living Expenses Aids approved, the aids shall be terminated:
1. The applicant is found not to be qualified as deficiency in financial resources.
2. One of the situations prescribed in Paragraph 5 to Article 17 exists.

When the application documents for Living Expenses Aids are incomplete and not corrected within a given period after being notified, the application shall be rejected.

When a case of applying for Living Expenses Aids has been approved, the applicant shall prepare and submit receipts for appropriation within thirty days from the date of receiving the notification of approval.

After the appropriation in accordance with the preceding article, when any of the situations referred to in Subparagraphs 1 to 3 of Paragraph 1 to Article 20 occurs, the aids shall be revoked and the applicant shall return all expenses; if the applicant does not return within the given period, retrieving measures shall be taken in accordance with related statutes.
The worker who has any one of situations prescribed in Subparagraphs 1 to 3 of Paragraph 1 to Article 20 shall not be allowed to apply for the aids referred to in Article 2 within five years from the date of revoking his/her aids.

When a case of applying for Living Expenses Aids is finally ruled by a court that the period of paying wage by the business entity (employer) is overlapping with the period of receiving aids, the worker shall return the total amount of aids within thirty days after receiving the wage.
If the worker fails to return the aids in accordance with the preceding paragraph, the Central Competent Authority shall repeal the original aids approved and order him/her to return the aids within a given period. If the worker does not return within the given period, retrieving measures shall be taken in accordance with related statutes, and he/she shall not be allowed to apply for the aids referred to in Article 2 within five years from the date of repealing the aids.

When a case of aids has been approved, the appointed attorney-at-law or the worker shall submit the result of aids such as the photocopy of court ruling, mediation (settlement) record, written settlement between the employer and the worker, or arbitration award to the Central Competent Authority for review within thirty days from the date of closing the litigation procedures related to the aids.
If the appointed attorney-at-law or the worker fails to submit in accordance with the preceding paragraph, the Central Competent Authority may, if necessary, proactively review the foresaid documents.

The Central Competent Authority may establish a Reviewing Task Force for the Aids for Legal Service and Living Expenses of Labor-Management Disputes (here-in-after referred to as the Reviewing Task Force) to review the cases of aids referred to in the Regulations.
The Reviewing Task Force prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall have three to five members, the Central Competent Authority shall assign one person on a part-time basis from itself to be a member and also the chairperson, and the rest shall be selected and appointed from experts and scholars with a term of service of two years.
The meeting of Reviewing Task Force shall be convened only when no less than one half of the members attend, and the decision concerning the method and amount of aids shall be made according to the type of case for aids, or object and complexity of litigation.
The members referred to in the preceding paragraph shall attend the meeting in person, and shall recuse themselves from reviewing the cases in accordance with Articles 32 and 33 of the Administrative Procedures Act.
The members shall not be paid, but the members form experts and scholars may receive payment for attendance in accordance with related statues and regulations.

When the Central Competent Authority commissioning civil organizations to process the aids for legal service in accordance with Paragraph 3 to Article 6 of the Act shall publicly and openly select them in accordance with Article 138 of the Administrative Procedures Act.
When the civil organizations commissioned by the Central Competent Authority approve the aids, the attorneys-at-law appointed shall be selected from the name list provided by the organizations commissioned.

When a worker files a lawsuit concerning the disputes over mass redundancy, his/her aids shall be processed in accordance with the Regulations for Subsidizing the Litigation and Necessary Living Expenses for Workers of Mass Redundancy, and the Regulations shall not apply.

Formats of related documents and forms referred to in the Regulations shall be prescribed by the Central Competent Authority.

The Regulations shall become effective on May 1, 2011. However, Article 5 shall become effective on January 1, 2012.
The amended provisions of these Regulations shall take effect on the day they are promulgated.