Last updated on March 15, 2024.

Paid Time Off (PTO) in Taiwan

Vacation (Annual Leave) Quota

From 3 to 30 days; depends on duration of service at the company.

The number of vacation days that an employee must receive is determined by their tenure with the company. It goes from 3 to 10 days for employees with up to 3 years of service, but it can go as high as 30 days for employees with more than 10 years of service.

An employment agreement specifies the number of vacation days, but an employer must provide at least the legal minimum, which goes as follows:

• For 10 or more years of employment, an employee must receive one additional vacation day for each year of service, up to a maximum of 30 days.

Therefore, an employer is obliged to provide minimal annual leave after an employee has been with the company for six months.

Taking a Vacation

The timeframe for taking a vacation may be based on various yearly cycles such as service duration (an employee’s work anniversary), calendar year, fiscal year, or any other annual system mutually selected by an employee and employer.

An employer is required to notify employees about their ability to schedule their annual leave, along with the details of their annual leave rights, within 30 days after the employees qualify for vacation. In the 1st year of work, an employee is restricted to taking a maximum of days of annual leave.

Carry Over

Allowed if agreed with the employer.

Employees are allowed to transfer unused days of annual leave from one year to the next, but only with their employer’s consent. If unused vacation days are not carried over, they must be paid as wages to the employee:

• in the second year after they were given; or
• when the employment contract ends.

Payment of Unused Vacation on Termination

Must be paid out.

All unused days of annual leave must be paid as regular wages when an employee resigns or is fired.

Sick Leave in Taiwan

30 days

An employee may take one of the following two types of sick leave:

• Standard sick leave

An employee is allowed to take up to 30 days of partially paid (50%) sick leave per year.

• Hospitalization

An employee who is hospitalized may take up to a maximum of 12 months of unpaid leave over a 2-year period. If sick leave is longer than 12 months, an employer may, at their discretion, permit additional leave or terminate the employee’s contract (fire an employee).

Payout

Sick leave in Taiwan is paid by the employer at a rate of 50% of the employee’s regular salary. If an employee’s illness qualifies for labor insurance coverage but the amount received is not their standard salary, the employer is obligated to top-up (pay the shortage).

Occupational Sick Leave

Up to full recovery.

Employees who suffer from illness, injury, or disability resulting from a workplace accident are allowed to take occupational sick leave. This leave (unlike leave for hospitalization for non-occupational sick leave) may extend beyond one year over a 2-year period and must last until the employee has fully recovered.

Family Care Leave

7 days

An employee is also entitled to up to seven days per year of paid family care leave. This leave is given for the purpose of attending to their family members’ needs.

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Maternity Leave in Taiwan

8 weeks

Pregnant employees in Taiwan are entitled to a minimum of 8 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. This leave may be prolonged for up to 12 weeks in total if there is a pregnancy-related complication or illness. To be eligible for paid maternity leave, an employee must have worked six months at the company.

A pregnant employee is also entitled to an extra 5 days of paid leave in order to attend prenatal medical examinations (before birth). If a doctor certifies that a pregnancy is high-risk, the employee qualifies for sick leave within hospitalization.

An employee who is pregnant or breastfeeding is not permitted to work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

An employer is not allowed to terminate an employee while she is on maternity leave.

Payout

Maternity leave is paid by the employer at 100.00% of the employee’s regular salary.

If an employee is not eligible for paid maternity leave (less than 6 months of work at the company), maternity leave is paid at a rate of 50.00% of salary.

Leave due to a Miscarriage

An employee who suffers a miscarriage is entitled to paid leave, with the duration of leave dependent on how far along the pregnancy was:

• A pregnancy under 2 months: 5 days of paid leave.
• A pregnancy between 2 and 3 months long: 1 week of paid leave
• A pregnancy over 3 months: 4 weeks of paid leave.

Paternity Leave

5 days

A male employee who becomes a father is entitled to 5 days of fully paid paternity leave.

Payout

Paternity leave is paid by the employer at a regular rate of 100.00% of the employee’s salary.

Adoption Leave

Employees who have adopted a child have the right to take unpaid leave for the duration of the co-parenting period, up until the child is 3 years old.

Parental Leave

Up to 2 years of unpaid leave.

An employee may take unpaid parental leave under the following conditions:

• He/she has been employed for more than six months;
• The child is under the age of three;
• The spouse of the employee is also employed.

An employee who is eligible for this leave is entitled to up to 2 years of unpaid parental leave. Parental leave can be taken by either parent, and they have the flexibility to decide how they allocate the parental leave between them. As mentioned, this leave is allowed until the child is 3 years old.

Payout

Parental leave is unpaid.

Bereavement Leave in Taiwan

Up to 8 days.

Employees are granted leave for bereavement purposes and funeral attendance as per the guidelines below:

• 8 days of paid leave: death of a spouse, a parent, or an adoptive parent.
• 6 days of paid leave: parents of the employee’s spouse; adoptive or stepparents of the spouse; a child; or a grandparent. 
• 3 days of paid leave: death of a spouse’s grandparents or a spouse’s sibling.

Jury Duty Leave in Taiwan

An employer is required to provide employees with leave to perform public duties under relevant laws and regulations. The leave must cover the exact number of days needed for these duties. This type of leave is compensated.

Military Leave in Taiwan

National Service implies official leave with pay provided to an employee called for education or to fulfill national service obligations.

Voting Leave in Taiwan

There is no legal definition of jury duty leave in Taiwan.

Public Holidays in Taiwan for 2024

Up to 15 holidays.

Taiwan officially observes between 10 and 15 public holidays, with some fixed on specific dates and others determined by the lunar calendar. These public holidays are counted as paid days off. Additional public holidays can be specified by the government.

A complete list of official holidays celebrated in Taiwan for 2024:

When holidays fall on Sundays, they are typically rescheduled to another day.

Sources

1. Local Laws & Regulations, https://www.atlashxm.com/en/countries/taiwan

2. Payroll and Benefits Guide Taiwan, https://www.papayaglobal.com/countrypedia/country/taiwan/

3. Definitive Guide to Hiring in Taiwan, https://www.globalexpansion.com/countrypedia/Taiwan

Check out our Leave Laws page to learn more about laws in various countries.