HR PRACTICES IN TAIWAN d) Performance Appraisal practices in Taiwan

E) COMPENSATION & BENEFIT PRACTICES: The compensation and Benefit packages in Taiwan hold wide range of windfalls. Initially all the benefits are divided into two broad categories i.e Obligatory and company specific benefits.

Compensation & Benefit Practices Obligatory Company-Specific

Obligatory Benefits The law provides for certain mandatory employment benefits. Among them are the following: Annual Leave: The employees are entitled to enjoy certain days of annual leave during the year. Though their length of leave would depend on their duration of service. With the duration of service going up the benefits to be received by the employees working in Taiwan also goes up. For instance, an employee working for continuous three years or less are in right to receive 7 days of annual leave; if their span of service is three to five years, they are entitled to receive 10 days of leave and 14 days for five to ten years. After that, for each additional year, employees get one extra day of annual leave in their account. These benefit keeps rolling until the number of leaves reach 30 days mark. Maternity Leave: A female employee is entitled to receive 8 weeks of paid meternity leave if she has worked for six months or more. If an employee has delivered for lesser period than that, she will recive eight weeks of pay at half of the regular rate. Moreover, in case of unfortunate case like miscarriage, 4 weeks of maternity leave is granted after three months of pregnancy. Sick Leave: Employees are in the right to receive 30 days of sick leave annually at half-pay. However any additional days after that are not compensated. Other Leave: Employees receive 8 days of leave at full pay for marriage and 3 to 8 days for funerals, depending on the employee's relationship with the deceased. Rest Days and Holidays: Employees working in Taiwan are entitled to receive one day off per week, as well as 16 national and public holidays. Minimum Wage: The Council of Labor Affairs recently announced an adjustment of the minimum wage from 17880 dollars to 18780 dollars, which is a 900 dollar (5.03%) increase. The hourly wage has also risen from 98 dollars to 103 dollars. This decision of minimum wage hike came into effect from January 2012.

Welfare Fund: Companies employing more than 50 people must contribute to a welfare fund administered jointly by employees and management through an Employee Welfare Committee. Contributions required are:

1.5% of the company's paid-in capital; 0.05-0.15% of the company's business revenue; 20-40% of the proceeds from the company's sale of waste or scrap materials; and 0.5% deduction from each employee's monthly wages.

COMPANY BENEFIT PLANS Companies in Taiwan offer a variety of benefits to their employees. Among these are the following: Retirement. Early retirement is generally permitted at age 55 with at least 15 years of service, or after 25 years of continuous service regardless of age. Pension. Any time over six months is considered one year of service for an eligible pension; any time less than six months is considered a half year. Pension size is defined as basic monthly salary plus the monthly average overtime pay earned during the final six months of service. However any kind of surplus pay arising from any performance bonus is excluded from the calculation of Death and Disability Benefits. These benefits are commonly provided through group insurance and not through a company's retirement plan. Health Care Benefits: A typical health care benefit granted by the companies in Taiwan include Consultation fees, room charge and surgery charges etc. Life Insurance. Companies commonly obtain life insurance coverage to fund their statutory obligations. Group life insurance is usually a term life policy with a typical target benefit of 24 months of an employees basic salary. Car Benefits: In most cases, Car benefits are only given to key staff personnels. Once an employee has become an integral part of a company, he/she is given car benefits. Club Membership. Approximately half of the multinational companies in Taiwan give club memberships to key managers. Expatriate Benefits. Although there are benefits to staffing your Taiwan office with expatriates, expatriate benefit packages cost significantly more than those of local employees with similar skills. The table below compares expatriate and local compensation for a hypothetical position.

f) Industrial Relations: Labor law, Factory law