Executive Summary

 

• Taiwan's new workplace bullying regime took effect on 1 July 2026. It imposes detailed prevention, complaint-handling, investigation and reporting duties on employers.
• The regime applies across Taiwan operations, with additional requirements triggered at 10, 30 and 100 employees. Headcount is generally assessed by Taiwan employing entity, rather than across the corporate group.
• Once a complaint is received, strict deadlines apply. Procedural non-compliance may itself lead to fines and a government-ordered re-investigation, regardless of whether bullying is ultimately established.
• Employers should localise global policies, align hotline escalation procedures with Taiwan deadlines, train managers and complaint handlers, and identify external investigators before a complaint arises.

 

1. Scope of the New Regime

The amended Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and Ministry of Labor (MOL) implementing rules prescribe how employers must prevent and handle workplace bullying. Every employer must maintain a workplace free from bullying and act promptly and effectively upon becoming aware of a possible case, whether or not a formal complaint has been filed.

Workplace bullying requires all of the following elements:

 

• conduct occurring at the workplace or in the course of duties, including business travel and work-related electronic communications;
• conduct between personnel of the same business entity involving the use of position or power;
• conduct exceeding the necessary and reasonable scope of business;
• repeated or continuing conduct, although a single serious incident may qualify; and
• harm to the employee’s physical or mental health.

Reasonable work direction and performance management are not, without more, workplace bullying. However, plainly unreasonable targets, deliberate exclusion, obstruction of work, withholding necessary information, spreading rumours or exposing private matters may fall within the regime.

2. Employer Obligations by Headcount

 

Taiwan headcount	Core obligations
All employers	Prevent bullying and act immediately and effectively once aware of a possible case.
10 or more	Establish and prominently display dedicated complaint channels.
30 or more	Adopt and display written prevention, complaint and disciplinary rules; designate a responsible unit; establish a complaint-handling unit of at least three members with each gender representing at least one third; and provide required training.
100 or more	For each accepted complaint, form an investigation team within 15 working days. The team must have at least three members, at least half of whom are external professionals, with each gender representing at least one third. Internal members must first complete prescribed training.

3. Key Complaint-Handling Deadlines

The principal deadlines are summarised below. Employers should ensure that global reporting channels escalate Taiwan complaints immediately.
 

Step	Deadline / requirement
Acceptance decision	Within 10 working days after receipt; the complainant must be notified in writing, with reasons if the complaint is rejected.
MOL registration	Within 7 working days from the day after acceptance. Outcomes and review results must generally be registered within 10 working days after the relevant decision.
Investigation team	For employers with 100 or more employees, within 15 working days after acceptance.
Investigation report	Within two months after formation of the investigation team, extendable once by one month.
Decision and notice	Decision within one month after the report; written notice to both parties within 10 working days.
Review	A party may seek one review within 30 days after notice. Material procedural defects or new evidence may require a newly constituted panel.
Smaller employers	Employers with fewer than 30 employees must generally decide within three months; employers with 30–99 employees within four months. Each period may be extended once by one month.

The investigation process is also regulated. It requires, among other matters, written notices, recorded interviews, confidentiality, recusal safeguards, no confrontation between the parties and a reasoned report. The labor authority may order a re-investigation where there are material procedural defects.

4. Penalties and Litigation Risk

Procedural failures—including failure to establish required channels or rules, mishandling a complaint, improper panel composition, failure to register a case or retaliation—may attract direct fines of NTD 30,000 to NTD 750,000. The employer’s name, responsible person and violation details may be published. A highest-ranking person found to have engaged in bullying may face a separate personal fine of NTD 10,000 to NTD 1,000,000.
The risk extends beyond administrative penalties. Bullying allegations are increasingly raised alongside termination, performance-management and severance disputes, and may support related civil or employment claims.

5. Priority Actions for Multinational Employers

 

• Confirm the headcount and applicable compliance tier for each Taiwan employing entity.
• Adopt a compliant Chinese-language policy or Taiwan annex covering the mandatory items and display the required complaint channels and rules.
• Align global hotlines, HR escalation protocols and data-transfer arrangements with Taiwan deadlines and MOL registration obligations.
• Establish the responsible unit and complaint-handling structure, train managers and complaint handlers, and pre-identify qualified external investigators.
• Document legitimate performance management carefully. Clear expectations, consistent treatment and contemporaneous records remain important protections against unfounded claims.

 

Selected Cross-Border Issues

Can a global anti-harassment policy be used? Usually not on its own. The Taiwan rules require locally displayed written procedures covering prescribed matters and Taiwan-specific deadlines. A Taiwan policy or annex should be integrated into the global framework.
Can a global whistleblower hotline serve as the complaint channel? Yes, but it does not displace local obligations. The channel must be displayed in Taiwan, and receipt of a complaint through the hotline starts the Taiwan compliance clock.
Are dispatched workers and offshore managers covered? Dispatched workers are expressly protected and may require joint investigation with the staffing agency. The treatment of an offshore manager employed by an affiliate is more fact-sensitive; employers should nevertheless address such complaints under their internal policy and assess the formal statutory position case by case.
What if the complaint concerns the chairman or country head? A complaint against the entity's highest-ranking person may be filed directly with the local labor authority. The definition may extend beyond the registered representative to a person who substantively controls the entity's personnel, finance or business.
Does the regime reach earlier conduct? Potentially. Complaints may be filed within the statutory limitation periods, and cases pending on 1 July 2026 must generally be completed under the new procedure, although prior valid steps remain effective.

How We Can Help

Formosa Transnational advises multinational employers on Taiwan compliance gap assessments, localisation of global policies, bilingual workplace rules, training, complaint response and investigations, representation before labor authorities, and related employment disputes. We would be pleased to coordinate with international counsel on Taiwan-specific implementation or live matters.
This alert provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Advice should be obtained on the specific facts before action is taken.
 
Author:
Delphine Chen, Senior Partner, delphine.chen@taiwanlaw.com
Jeffrey Long, Senior Associate, jeffrey.long@taiwanlaw.com