萬國法律事務所

The Employment Service Act (“ESA”) was amended last November. According to the Article 5.2 of the latest ESA, an employer may not withhold any job applicant or employee's identification card, work certificate or any other certifying document. Furthermore, the employer may not request the job applicants or employees to provide any other private information unrelated to the employment against his/her free will. In violation of the above provision, the employer may be imposed a fine ranging from NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 (Article 67 of the ESA).

However, according to the Department of Labor, Taipei City Government (“DOL”), more than seventy percent of the job applicants have been inquired by the employers about the job applicants’ private matters (for example, whether the job applicant has a girl/boy friend, has been married or has a plan to give birth to children, etc) after the enactment of the amended ESA.

The DOL further indicated that whether inquiry raised by the employer violates the Article 5.2 of the ESA is to be determined based on the nature of the employment and relevant evidences on a case-by-case basis.