Taiwan Government Introduces More Employee-Protective Procedures for Employment Terms Negotiation
The Labor-Management Meeting ("LMM") is a key mechanism under Taiwan's labor law regime for employer-employee communication and negotiation. Employers are generally required to establish an LMM comprising an equal number of employer and employee representatives, and the representative roster must be filed with the local labor regulators. Certain employment terms, including working-hour adjustments and overtime arrangements, are subject to the approval of the LMM if no labor union exists at the employer in question. Given that labor unions are uncommon among companies in Taiwan's private sector with the exception of large manufacturing companies, the LMM serves as a vital scheme for employee protection.
The Ministry of Labor ("MoL"), Taiwan's main labor regulator, published the amendments to the "Directions for Business Entities to Convene Labor-Management Meetings" (the "Amendments" or 事業單位召開勞資會議應行注意事項 in Chinese) on 7 July 2026. Key amendments are outlined below:
(i) Specifying that elections of employee representatives should be conducted during working hours.
(ii) Where the number of employees in an enterprise increases substantially, the local labor regulators may request the enterprise to increase the number of employee representatives where necessary.
(iii) Any workplace (such as a factory) employing thirty or more workers, including full-time employees, part-time employees, and foreign employees, is required to convene its own LMM and may not hold such meeting jointly with other workplaces of the employer (such as the head office).
(iv) An enterprise is required to convene at least one LMM within a period set forth by itself but not exceeding three months.
(v) Both employer and employee representatives are required to attend LMMs in person and may not appoint proxies to attend on their behalf.
(vi) Proposals submitted by either employer or employee representatives prior to an LMM must be included as agenda items for discussion at the meeting and may not be addressed through alternative means, such as separate communications, unless exceptional circumstances exist or the proposing party consents.
The Amendments have been effective since their publication on 7 July 2026.
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