萬國法律事務所

Taiwan’s Bureau of Labor Insurance, under the Ministry of Labor, recently proposed including adjunct teachers at private school as “workers” who are covered by the Labor Standards Act.

Starting on August 1, 2014, the Labor Standards Act became applicable to non-staff workers at private schools. However, the scope of employees covered still does not include adjunct teachers exclusively devoted to teaching at private schools. Unlike workers subject to the Labor Pension Act and Labor Standards Act, adjunct teachers at private schools are not entitled to severance payment, pension, or allowances provided under the Labor Pension Act and Labor Standards Act.

According to the Ministry of Labor, “adjunct teachers” at private schools were not covered by the Labor Standards Act because of the special nature of such teachers’ work. Work performed by teachers who are exclusively devoted to teaching includes class preparation, lecturing, and counseling students. Unlike typical workers, it is difficult to determine the exact number of working hours that teachers put in.

The Taiwan Higher Education Union contends that adjunct teachers at private schools should not be excluded from the protections provided by the Labor Standards Act. If adjunct teachers at private schools are not well protected under the Labor Standards Act, a situation where lower-paid adjunct teachers are used to replace permanent school teachers could arise, and such a situation would be expected to negatively impact the quality of education for students.