Minimum Wage in Taiwan (2026): Rates, Employer Cost and Rules

From 1 January 2026 the monthly minimum is NT$29,500 and the hourly minimum is NT$196, confirmed by the Ministry of Labor. Both rose 3.18% from the 2025 levels of NT$28,590 and NT$190. For a side-by-side view with the rest of Asia and Europe, see our minimum wage by country tracker, which covers 195 countries.

The rate is a legal floor, not a salary target. The monthly figure applies to full-time staff on a standard 40-hour week and the hourly figure to part-time and hourly workers, and total earnings must reach it however pay is structured.

Workers paid by piece rate, commission or output must still clear the monthly or hourly minimum once total earnings are calculated. The method of payment has no bearing on the requirement.

The same minimum applies in Taipei and in the smallest regional town, in retail and in semiconductor manufacturing, and to local and foreign employees who are legally employed. Taiwan does not adjust it for region, experience or company size, so there is one number to track.

That consistency cuts compliance work, since there are no location-based calculations to run. It also removes the option to set lower pay in lower-cost areas, which some employers expect to find.

Domestic workers fall outside the Labor Standards Act and are not covered by the statutory minimum. Some government and civil service roles follow separate pay frameworks. For private commercial hiring, the single rate applies without exception.

Each year the Minimum Wage Review Committee reviews the rate. It brings together employer representatives, labour organisations, government agencies and academic experts, and weighs the Consumer Price Index, GDP and growth forecasts, productivity and wider employment conditions.

Its recommendation goes to the Ministry of Labor and then to the Executive Yuan for approval before taking effect on 1 January. Since the Minimum Wage Act took effect in 2024, the process has had a clear statutory basis rather than resting on annual administrative discretion.

The current number means little on its own. Taiwan has raised the minimum every year for a decade: the monthly wage is up 47.4% and the hourly wage 63.3% since 2016, according to figures cited by Human Resources Online. The pattern is steady annual movement rather than sudden jumps, so budget for it as a moving baseline.

The minimum applies to full-time, part-time and hourly staff, to employees paid by output once total earnings are counted, and to foreign workers with valid work permits. The exceptions are narrow: domestic workers, some civil service roles and specific training arrangements. Foreign hires also need the right permit, covered in our guide to EOR visas and work permits.

The wage has no eligibility rules, but the contribution side does. Ordinary Labor Insurance is compulsory only for businesses with five or more employees, and smaller firms enrol voluntarily.

Contributions start on day one, and most published figures get them wrong because Taiwan does not apply flat percentages to gross pay. Labor Insurance, National Health Insurance and the pension all run off insured salary grade tables published by the Bureau of Labor Insurance and the National Health Insurance Administration.

Each employee is slotted into a salary grade and contributions are charged on that grade, not the exact gross figure. At the minimum wage every scheme uses the NT$29,500 grade, so the difference is small, but it widens at higher salaries.

The NHI detail foreign employers tend to miss is the dependant multiplier: premiums are calculated as insured salary times rate times contribution ratio times one plus the average number of dependants. At around 1.56 it lifts the effective employer rate to 4.84%, as payroll providers such as GoGlobal set out. On one hire it is modest, but it scales with the workforce.

The accident line uses the 0.12% rate for office work; higher-risk industries pay up to 0.96%, which adds as much as NT$250 a month. At the minimum wage none of the caps bind, so contributions add close to 20%. At higher salaries the effective rate falls toward 13% to 15% as Labor Insurance, NHI and the pension reach their ceilings.

The point holds whatever the exact figure: the minimum wage is the baseline, not the budget. To model a specific role, the EOR cost calculator works through the same components.

Resident employees are taxed on a five-band progressive scale. Employers withhold income tax monthly and remit it to the National Taxation Bureau by the 10th of the following month, with the annual reconciliation filed in May.

Non-residents, meaning anyone in Taiwan for fewer than 183 days in the calendar year, face a flat 18% withholding on Taiwan-source salary instead of the progressive bands.

The bands apply to taxable income after deductions, not gross pay. A single employed resident can claim around NT$464,000 in combined personal exemption, standard deduction and salary deduction for 2026, so a worker on the minimum wage pays little or no income tax.

Under the Labor Standards Act, standard hours are 8 a day and 40 a week. Anything beyond that is overtime, paid at tiered premiums and capped at 46 hours a month, or 54 with a labour-management agreement. Employers must keep detailed working-hour records, and gaps in them are a common audit finding.

Overtime is calculated from the employee’s wage, so a base salary set too low distorts every overtime payment that follows. Roles at or near the minimum are the most exposed, which is why wage compliance is about more than the headline number.

Paid annual leave starts after six months of service and grows with tenure. It is a statutory cost on top of wage and contributions, so it belongs in any total-cost estimate.

From 10 years of service, one day is added for each further year, up to 30 days.

Ordinary sick leave runs to 30 days a year at half pay, with longer unpaid hospitalisation leave available. Maternity leave is eight weeks, at full pay for employees with at least six months of service and half pay below that.

Fathers receive seven days of paternity and prenatal accompaniment leave. Parental leave is available until a child turns three for employees with at least six months of service.

Taiwan has no legal requirement for a 13th-month salary, but paying one is standard practice, usually before Lunar New Year. Some employers add a 14th month, and festival bonuses often appear around the Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn festivals.

None of this is statutory, yet candidates expect it, and an offer that ignores it reads as below market. For a role budgeted near the minimum, an extra month of pay is a material cost to plan for rather than discover.

Termination by the employer for business or performance reasons, the grounds in Article 11 of the Labor Standards Act, needs advance notice or pay in lieu. The notice period rises with length of service.

For service under the pension system in force since 2005, severance is half a month of average wage per year of service, capped at six months of pay. Employees who stayed on the legacy system accrue one month per year with no cap, so older tenures can carry a larger liability.

Termination for just cause, the misconduct grounds in Article 12, needs no notice or severance. Dismissals outside the lawful grounds can be reversed and can trigger compensation, so the cause and the paperwork both matter.

The minimum marks the bottom of the labour market, not the going rate. Average gross monthly pay sits near NT$58,000 to NT$60,000, with a median closer to NT$45,000, so most skilled roles clear the minimum by a wide margin.

The minimum mainly affects entry-level positions, service work and lower-skilled roles. For specialist hiring in technology, manufacturing or professional services, it is the legal floor and cost baseline rather than the benchmark for an offer.

Taiwan is cheaper than Singapore or Hong Kong, but costs vary sharply by location. Taipei rents run well above the rest of the island, and housing is the largest pressure on a minimum-wage budget.

At the minimum, a single person can cover essentials with shared or modest housing, but there is little room for saving. Employers who pay slightly above the floor tend to find hiring and retention easier.

Taiwan enforces wage and labour rules actively. Paying below the minimum carries fines of NT$20,000 to NT$1,000,000, and serious or repeat violations can lead to the employer’s name being published.

Insurance and payroll failures draw separate penalties. Beyond the fines, non-compliance invites employee disputes, administrative audits and reputational damage that outlasts the original error.

Salaries must be paid in New Taiwan dollars on a consistent monthly cycle, and contributions add close to 20% at minimum-wage level. Foreign employees fall under the same wage rules when legally employed, and working-hour record-keeping is strict.

The system is manageable, but it expects accuracy from day one. Late insurance enrolment, missing hour records and miscalculated overtime are the failures that turn an ordinary hire into a compliance problem.

Companies without a local entity can hire through an employer of record, which acts as the legal employer in Taiwan and handles contracts, payroll and tax withholding, insurance and pension registration, and ongoing reporting. Our guide to the best EOR providers in Taiwan compares how providers handle the local rules, and the Taiwan hiring guide covers costs at every salary level, dispatch rules and work permits.

Short answers to what employers ask most about the rate, the real cost of a minimum-wage hire and the rules around it, checked against Ministry of Labor guidance on 24 October 2026.