History

This Law is enacted for the purpose of protecting the employees' right to work, moderating the employer's management rights, preventing damage or potential damage to the rights and interests of employees that may result from mass redundancy of employees by a business entity, and maintaining the stability of society. With regard to matters not provided for in this Act, relevant provisions provided in other applicable laws shall prevail.

The term "mass redundancy of employees" as used in this Act shall mean the circumstance where a business entity has a need to lay off its employees on account of any of the conditions set forth in Article 11 of the Labor Standards Act, including merger and restructure, and is under any of the following circumstances:
1. Where a site in the business entity having fewer than thirty (30) employees intends to lay off over ten (10) employees within sixty (60) days.
2. Where a site in the business entity having more than two hundred (200) employees intends to lay off more than one-third (1/3) of the total number of its employees within sixty (60) days, or more than fifty (50) employees within one day; or where a site in the business entity having more than thirty (30) employees but fewer than two hundred (200) employees intends to lay off over twenty (20) employees within one day or over one-third (1/3) of the total number of employees within sixty (60) days.
3. Where a business entity having more than five hundred (500) employees intends to lay off one-fifth (1/5) of the total number of its employees within sixty (60) days.
The numbers of employees referred to in various Sub-paragraphs under the preceding Paragraph are exclusive of the employees with fixed-term labor contracts.

The term "competent authority" as used in this Act shall mean the Council of Labor Affairs, Executive Yuan at the central government level; the municipal city government at the municipality level; and the county/city government at the county/city level.
In the event mass redundancy of employees by a business entity involves the jurisdictions of a municipality and a county/city, the competent authority of the municipality or county/city shall report the case to the central competent authority for its processing of the case, or the central competent authority may designate the municipal city government or the county/city government to handle the case.

To implement mass redundancy of employees, the business entity shall, at least sixty (60) days prior to the occurrence of any of the conditions set out in Article 2, inform the officials/personnel of the competent authority and other relevant agencies of its redundancy plan by a written notice and announce it by publishing an announcement, provided, however, that the foregoing 60-day requirement shall not apply to the case where the cause thereof is due to an act of God, calamity or accident.
Notice to be given to relevant authorities/agencies or personnel under the preceding Paragraph shall be given in the following order:
1. The labor union to which the employees to be laid off belong.
2. The labor representatives of the labor-management conference.
3. The entire employees of the business entity.
The term "the entire employees" as used in Sub-paragraph 3 of the preceding Paragraph is exclusive of the employees with fixed-term labor contracts and those of the departments unaffected by the mass redundancy.
The mass redundancy plan to be submitted by the business entity according to Paragraph 1 shall contain the following particulars:
1. The cause of such mass redundancy.
2. The department to be affected by such mass redundancy.
3. The scheduled effective date of such mass redundancy.
4. The number of employees to be laid off.
5. The criteria for selecting the subjects of such mass redundancy.
6. The method for calculating the severance pay and the job transition assistance project.
The central competent authority may, in conjunction with the appropriate competent authorities in charge of the relevant industry sector, formulate the standard contents of the mass redundancy plan applicable to the specific industry sector or occupation.

Within ten (10) days from the date of submission of the mass redundancy plan in accordance with the preceding Article, the labor and the employer shall enter into negotiations in the spirit of autonomy.
In the event the labor and/or the employer refuse(s) to enter into negotiations or cannot reach an agreement, the competent authority shall, within ten (10) days, invite the labor and the employer to form a Negotiation Committee to negotiate the terms of the mass redundancy plan, and propose alternatives if appropriate.

The Negotiation Committee shall have five (5) to eleven (11) members, including one (1) representative designated by the competent authority and an even number of representatives designated by both the labor and the employer. The representative designated by the competent authority shall act as the chairman of the Negotiation Committee. Representatives of the employer shall be designated by the employer, and the representatives of the labor shall be designated by the labor union(s). If there is no labor union but a labor-management conference is formed, the representatives of the labor shall be designated by the labor representatives of the labor-management conference. If there is no labor union or labor-management conference, the representatives of the labor shall be elected by the entire employees as specified in Subparagraph 3, Paragraph 2, Article 4 of this Act upon a notice given by the business entity.
In the event the labor and the employer cannot designate or select their respective representatives before the 10-day deadline in accordance with Paragraph 2 of the preceding Article and the preceding Paragraph of this Article, such representatives shall be designated by the competent authority ex officio within five (5) days after the 10-day deadline.
The competent authority shall be responsible for holding a meeting of the Negotiation Committee at least once every two (2) weeks.

The agreement reached by the Negotiation Committee shall bind individual employees.
The agreement concluded by the Negotiation Committee shall be put in writing, and signed by all the members of the Negotiation Committee or affixed with their seals.
The competent authority shall, within seven (7) days from the date of conclusion of the agreement, submit the written agreement to the court having competent jurisdiction for its examination and approval.
The court shall examine the aforesaid written agreement as soon as possible and return the same to the competent authority. In the case of disapproval, the reasons shall be given.
In the case the written agreement approved by the court prescribes the payment of a specific sum of money, any other substitute, or valuable securities, such agreement may serve as the title for compulsory execution.

Upon formation of the Negotiation Committee, the competent authority shall dispatch employment service personnel to assist both the labor and employer by providing them with appropriate consulting services in connection with employment service and vocational training.
The employer shall not reject the employment service personnel dispatched by the competent authority under the preceding Paragraph, and shall set a time for them to provide individual assistance to the employees.

Unless otherwise prescribed in applicable laws and regulations, the business entity that has implemented a mass redundancy plan and subsequently needs to employ workers for jobs of a similar nature shall give priority to the employees previously discharged by the mass redundancy plan.
The preceding Paragraph shall also apply to the recruitment of employees by the business entity that resumes its business operations after having closed down, or by the new business entity that is organized by the major shareholders of the closed company and engages in the same business.
The term "major shareholders" as referred to in the preceding Paragraph shall mean the shareholders holding a majority of the shares in the original business entity and subsequently holding more than 50% of the shares in the newly incorporated business entity.
Measures shall be taken by the government to encourage the employers to give priority to the reemployment of discharged employees referred to in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article.

In the event an employee finds a new job during the advance notice period, the employer shall remain liable for the payment of a severance pay to such employee in accordance with the agreement. The employer shall not arbitrarily discharge any employee or reassign his/her job during the advance notice period without negotiations.

Where a business entity having more than thirty (30) employees is under any of the following circumstances, the agency or the personnel concerned shall report the case to the competent authority:
1. The business entity has delayed the payment of wages to its employees for a period of two (2) months, if the total number of its employees is less than 200, or for a period of one (1) month if the total number of its employees is over 200.
2. The business entity has delayed the payment of the premiums of its employees' labor insurance, the overdue wages repayment fund, or the premiums for its employees' national health insurance for a period of two (2) months and the amount of payment in arrear exceeds Two Hundred Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NTD200,000) in each type of delay.
3. Its whole business or a significant part has ceased to operate.
4. A resolution for merger or acquisition is adopted.
5. A major labor dispute has occurred during the last two (2) years.
The term "an agency or the personnel concerned" referred to in the preceding Paragraph shall be as follows:
1. The relevant labor union or the employees of the business entity in the case of Sub-paragraphs 1, 3, 4, and 5; or the business entity itself in the case of Sub-paragraph 4.
2. The Labor Insurance Bureau and the Bureau of National Health Insurance in the case of Sub-paragraph 2.
The competent authority may, within three (3) days after its receipt of the report set forth in the preceding Paragraph, make a fact-finding visit to the business entity concerned, and may, during the visit, order the business entity to make necessary explanations or to submit its financial statements and relevant information within a given time limit.
Officials of the competent authority shall keep the financial statements and relevant information submitted by the business entity in confidence.

Where a business entity delays the payment of pension, severance pay, or wage to the employees in the course of implementing mass redundancy of employees and is under any of the following circumstances, and further fails to make the payment(s) within a time limit fixed by the competent authority, the central competent authority may request, by an official letter, the authority in charge of border control to prohibit the chairman of the board of directors and the responsible person in fact of the business entity from going abroad:
1. The business entity has more than ten (10) but fewer than thirty (30) employees and the total delayed payment is up to Three Million New Taiwan Dollars (NTD3,000,000).
2. The business entity has more than thirty (30) but fewer than one hundred (100) employees and the total delayed payment is up to Five Million New Taiwan Dollars (NTD5,000,000).
3. The business entity has more than one hundred (100) but fewer than two hundred (200) employees and the total delayed payment is up to Ten Million New Taiwan Dollars (NTD10,000,000).
4. The business entity has more than two hundred (200) employees and the total delayed payment is up to Twenty Million New Taiwan Dollars (NTD20,000,000).
Regulations governing the operation procedures and other matters to be complied with shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

When implementing a mass redundancy plan, race, language, social station, ideology, religion, political affiliation, birthplace, gender, appearance, physical/mental handicap, age, and position in a labor union shall not be taken as the cause of discharge.
Termination of a labor contract shall be invalid if such termination is in violation of the preceding Paragraph or Article 11 of the Labor Standards Law.
In the event the competent authority finds a business entity has violated Paragraph 1 of this Article, the competent authority shall order the business entity to reinstate the discharged employee within a given time limit. The competent authority shall assist the discharged employee to institute legal proceedings if the business entity fails to reinstate the employee within the given time limit.

The central competent authority shall set a specific budget to subsidize the litigation costs and necessary living expenses of the employees who suffer from unlawful mass redundancy. Regulations governing subsidized objects, standards of subsidization, subsidy application procedure, and other matters to be complied with shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

In order to stay abreast of the changing trends of the labor market, the central authority shall form the Assessment Committee, which shall be responsible for collecting information pertaining to the causes of mass redundancy initiated by business entities for the reference of the government to formulate its policies concerning industrial development and employment.
Regulations governing the organization and operation procedures of the Assessment Committee shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

Where the person who is prohibited from going abroad under Article 12 meets any of the following conditions, the central competent authority shall request, by an official letter, the authority in charge of border control to lift the restriction:
1. He/she has fully paid the outstandings that were overdue for which he/she was prohibited from going abroad by Article 12.
2. He/she has furnished a bond sufficient to secure the full payment of the outstandings that were overdue for which he/she was prohibited from going abroad by Article 12.
3. The business entity has been dissolved and the liquidation procedure has been completed in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and there are no residual assets for distribution.
4. All outstandings have been settled through distribution in accordance with bankruptcy procedures.

The business entity shall be fined an amount of not less than One Hundred Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NTD100,000) but not more than Five Hundred Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NTD500,000) if it violates Paragraph 1 of Article 4 by failing to submit the mass redundancy plan to the competent authority and relevant government agency or officials. The business entity shall be fined consecutively on a daily basis until submission is made if it is ordered to submit the mass redundancy plan within a given time limit.

The business entity shall be fined an amount of not less than One Hundred Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NTD100,000) but not more than Five Hundred Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NTD500,000) if it violates Paragraph 2 of Article 5 by refusing to enter into negotiations, or violates Paragraph 1 of Article 6 by refusing to appoint its negotiation representatives or failing to notify the employees to elect their negotiation representatives, or violates Paragraph 2 of Article 8 by denying the presence of the employment service personnel, or violates Article 10 by arbitrarily reassigning the jobs of the employees or terminating the employees.

The business entity shall be fined an amount of not less than Thirty Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NTD30,000) but not more than One Hundred and Fifty Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NTD150,000) if it violates Paragraph 3 of Article 11 by refusing to make explanations or failing to submit financial statements and/or relevant information. The business entity shall be fined consecutively on a daily basis until submission is made if it is ordered to submit the documents within a given time limit.

In case any fine imposed hereunder is not paid up within a given time limit, the case shall be subject to compulsory execution.

This Act shall come into force after elapse of three (3) months from the date of its promulgation.