Taipei, Dec. 28 (CNA) Taiwan's minimum monthly wage is to be increased to NT$25,250 and the minimum hourly wage to NT$168, with effect from Jan. 1 next year, according to the Ministry of Labor (MOL).
The ministry's Minimum Wage Review Committee on Oct. 8 proposed raising the minimum monthly wage by 5.21 percent from NT$24,000 and the minimum hourly wage by NT$8 from NT$160, which the Executive Yuan subsequently approved.
According to MOL statistics, 2.45 million workers are expected to benefit from the monthly and hourly wage increase.
The minimum monthly wage in Taiwan, which will be NT$25,250 effective from Jan. 1, is classified as Grade 1 on the labor insurance salary. There are currently 15 grades in total, the highest being Grade 15, which refers to wages of NT$43,901 and over.
Based on the information published on the website of the MOL's Bureau of Labor Insurance, the labor insurance salary classification will be reduced to 14 grades beginning next year following several minor adjustments.
Also from 2022, the labor insurance premium rate will be 10.5 percent (up from the current 9.5 percent), plus 1 percent for employment insurance -- an amount equivalent to 11.5 percent of salaries.
Of this 11.5 percent, the employer is required to cover 70 percent. Another 20 percent comes out of the employee's salary, while the final 10 percent is covered by the government.
Using the NT$25,250 minimum monthly salary as an example, employees must pay NT$581 (22,250 x 11.5 percent x 20 percent) per month, while employers are liable for NT$2,033 (22,250 x 11.5 percent x 70 percent) per month, and the government's 10 percent equates to NT$290 per month.
Meanwhile, the MOL will also scrap the practice of "businesses implementing day/night duties," which includes employers asking staff who are off duty to help out with office tasks such as handling urgent paperwork or answering telephone calls when necessary, to which they have to agree.
Effective Jan. 1, 2022, employees must receive overtime pay for the hours they spend on such work, the ministry said.
According to the MOL, employers who violate this regulation will be fined between NT$20,000 and NT$1 million under the Labor Standards Act.
