Newsletter
Labor Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act
Labor Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act (the “New Act”), which will take effect on May 1, 2022, is a new law that expands the scope of protection for occupational-injured workers and consolidates the provisions pertaining to occupational injury insurance under the Labor Insurance Act and the provisions under the Act for Protecting Workers of Occupational Accidents. The key points of the New Act are summarized as follows.
Key Point No. 1: Expanded Scope of Mandatory Enrollment; Increased Penalty; Simplified Enrollment Process for Atypical Workers
I. Under the existing Labor Insurance Act, employers with four or less employees are not required to enroll their employees into the occupational injury insurance program, and while employers with more than four employees are required to do so, some still fail to and jeopardize their employees’ right to be protected against consequences of occupational injuries.
The New Act now stipulates that all workers employed by a registered business establishment, regardless of the size of its workforce, must be enrolled in the occupational injury insurance program, and the insurance takes effect on the workers’ first day of employment. Moreover, even if an employer fails to complete the enrollment procedure for its employees, the employees can still claim the relevant benefits under the New Act in the event of occupational injury or illness.
II. The New Act not only removes the current age cap of 65 on enrollment but also expands the scope of eligibility to include, inter alia, foreign migrant workers as well as employers who hold a professional license, street vendors or market stallholders.
III. With the aim to urge employers to enroll their employees into the occupational injury insurance program, the penalty for failure to do so will be increased, ranging from NT$20,000 to NT$100,000, and the employer will be ordered to complete the enrollment procedure within a specified period of time; otherwise, another fine will be imposed; also, the name of such employers (both the names of the business and its statutory representative) will be disclosed to the public as part of the punishment.
IV. Where an employer has failed to enroll its workers in the occupational injury insurance program, if the competent authority provides such workers with occupational insurance benefit in accordance with the New Act, the competent authority will recover the amount of such benefits from such employer.
V. In view of the increasing number of atypical workers in Taiwan, workers who are employed by natural person employers on a short-term or temporary basis, workers employed by unregistered employers (such as workers employed by a construction foreman), and workers under the age of 15 (such as child stars) will also be eligible to enroll in the occupational injury insurance program. Moreover, streamlined methods of enrollment such as registration online or using kiosks at convenient stores will be provided so that such natural person employers can easily enroll their workers in the insurance program.
Key Point No. 2: Premium Adjustment; Expanded Range of Insurable Salary; Expanded Scope of Coverage and Benefits
I. Premium Adjustment Mechanism
In order to reduce the burden of premium on both employers and employees during the initial period of the New Act’s enactment, the New Act provides that the premiums will remain at the current level for the first three years and then be adjusted based on actuarial results from the fourth year onward.
II. Expanded Range of Insurable Salary
In order to make the insurable salary brackets closer to the actual salary levels of workers and to enhance the level of protection, the ceiling of the monthly insurable salary will be raised from NT$45,800 to NT$72,800, and the floor will be raised from NT$11,100 to NT$25,250, and will be adjusted in conjunction with the adjustment of the statutory minimum wage in the future.
III. Expanded Scope of Coverage and Benefits
(1) Medical benefit: The out-of-pocket expenses for special materials that should be borne by the worker according to the national health insurance program will be covered by the occupational insurance benefit under the New Act.
(2) Injury and illness benefit: The injury and illness benefit will be 100% of the insured’s average monthly insurable salary for the first two months, and 70% of the average monthly insurable salary from the third month onwards, with a maximum period of two years.
(3) Disability benefit: Under the New Act, a disability annuity will be paid at 70%, 50% and 20% of the insured’s average monthly insurable salary depending on the degree of disability instead of the insured’s service years.
(4) Death benefit: Under the Act, the annuity payable to the deceased worker’s heirs will be 50% of the the deceased worker’s average monthly insurable salary; the heirs who do not meet the annuity requirements may apply for a lump sum payment of death benefit; also, the heirs may receive the annuity under the New Act and other social insurance annuity benefits at the same time.
(5) Disappearance benefit: When an insured worker (regardless of the industry he/she is in) goes missing due to an occupational accident, a disappearance benefit will be given from the date of the disappearance at 70% of the insured’s average monthly insurable salary, payable at the end of every three months, until (i) the day before being found, (ii) the day before the one-year anniversary of the disappearance, or (iii) the day before death of the insured worker is declared via a court ruling.
(6) Subsidies and allowances: The New Act provides (i) medical subsidy, disability and death allowance for the insured worker who is found to have an occupational disease after he/she has been unenrolled from the occupational injury insurance program; (ii) disability and death subsidy for workers who are not enrolled in the occupational injury insurance program; and (iii) care subsidy for workers who are hospitalized and require nursing care, or are assessed to be incapacitated for life and require assistance with the activities of daily living.
Key Point No. 3: Enhanced Prevention and Rehabilitation Measures
Strengthening measures on prevention of occupational injuries and rehabilitation measures is the core of the New Act, which include the following:
I. At healthcare institutions for treating occupational injuries and illnesses and institutions for occupational rehabilitation recognized by the competent authority, healthcare professionals provide one-stop services such as (i) diagnosis and treatment of injuries and illnesses, (ii) medical rehabilitation, (iii) occupational rehabilitation, and (iv) assistance in developing return-to-work plans in order for workers to return to the workplace.
II. Where a worker has been determined by a professional institution recognized by the competent authority as requiring occupational rehabilitation and training, the worker may apply for an allowance for occupational rehabilitation for a maximum of 180 days. Employers may also apply for subsidies or allowances when (i) procuring auxiliary facilities required for employees who are returning to work from occupational injury or illness, or (ii) employing new workers who have occupational injury or illness. Such subsidies and allowances are aimed at providing incentives for rehabilitation on the part of both employers and employees.
III. Multiple channels for reporting occupational injury and illness as well as the Center for Prevention and Rehabilitation of Occupational Injury and Illness will be established according to the New Act.
IV. The procedure for determining occupational injury or illness will be streamlined and centralized, where the insured will also be entitled to request for a determination of the cause of the injury/disease when there is a dispute over insurance benefits.
Key Point No. 4: Integration with the Act for Protecting Worker of Occupational Accidents
The New Act also integrates the existing provisions under the Act for Protecting Workers of Occupational Accidents regarding the employer’s placement obligations, termination of labor contracts, separation pay, pension or severance pay, and sick leave in order to offer comprehensive protection for the rights and interests of workers who have suffered occupational injury or illness.
Other
Effective May 1 of this year, the provisions relating to occupational injuries under the existing Labor Insurance Act and the Act for Protecting Workers of Occupational Accidents will no longer apply unless otherwise provided in the New Act. In addition, in conjunction with the implementation of the New Act, the Ministry of Labor will place the issue as to whether employers are in compliance with the occupational injury insurance requirements as one of the priorities that should be checked during labor inspections in 2022.