2026 Annual Leave Guide for Taiwan: Eligibility, Calculation, Forfeiture Rules, and Salary Compensation
Do you actually know how many days of annual leave you have?
Statutory paid annual leave is one of the benefits Taiwanese workers care most about — and one of the most poorly understood. Plenty of workers can’t say with confidence how many days they’re entitled to, and even fewer know that by law, any unused days must be converted into wages and paid out by the employer. Q2 has just started, which makes it a good moment to take stock of this year’s allotment and plan ahead. This guide walks through what the Labor Standards Act actually says about annual leave so you know where you stand.
How many days of annual leave do you get? The full table
Under Article 38 of the Labor Standards Act, your annual leave entitlement is based on your years of service with the same employer:
- 6 months but less than 1 year: 3 days
- 1 year but less than 2 years: 7 days
- 2 years but less than 3 years: 10 days
- 3 years but less than 5 years: 14 days
- 5 years but less than 10 years: 15 days
- 10 years or more: 1 additional day per extra year, capped at 30 days
For example: if you started July 1, 2024, by April 2026 you’ve been employed for more than 1 year but less than 2, so your current entitlement is 7 days. If you’re not sure exactly how long you’ve been on the job, a date calculator can give you the precise tenure count.
Anniversary system vs. calendar-year system — what’s the difference?
Companies grant annual leave under one of two systems, and the difference matters:
The anniversary system uses your hire date as the anchor. Each time you cross a service threshold, you receive the next allotment. If you started on March 15, your leave cycle runs from March 15 each year through March 14 of the next year. This is the original design under the Labor Standards Act and the option most favorable to workers.
The calendar-year system lets a company standardize leave on a January 1 to December 31 cycle, with the day count prorated based on your service during that calendar year. Many companies prefer this for administrative simplicity — but only on the condition that it doesn’t reduce a worker’s entitlement.
Whichever system your company uses, one rule is absolute: the converted total cannot be less than what the anniversary system would give you. If the calendar-year calculation produces fewer days than the anniversary calculation, that’s illegal. Run both numbers yourself and make sure the company hasn’t shortchanged you.
Who decides when you take leave?
A lot of workers misunderstand this and assume annual leave requires manager approval. Article 38, Paragraph 2 of the Labor Standards Act is explicit: the scheduling of annual leave is, in principle, decided by the worker. Which day you take off is, fundamentally, up to you.
There’s one caveat in the law: if the employer has an urgent operational need, they can negotiate an adjustment with the worker. But “negotiate” is not “deny” — a company cannot unilaterally refuse your leave request. They can only discuss moving it to another day. If your boss says, “We’re short-staffed that day, you can’t take annual leave,” they need to give a specific operational reason and reach an alternative date you agree to.
Common violations include: requiring annual leave requests one month in advance; giving managers veto power over leave applications; or blanket-banning leave during peak season. If those rules effectively strip you of your statutory leave rights, they may violate the Labor Standards Act.
Didn’t use all your annual leave? The company owes you cash
This may be the most important rule in the whole article: at the end of the year or when an employment contract ends, any unused annual leave must be converted into wages and paid out. The law uses the word “shall,” not “may” — this isn’t optional, the company has to do it.
The calculation for unused-leave pay: take your “regular working hour wages” from the most recent month, divide by 30, then multiply by the number of unused days. If your monthly salary is NT$40,000 and you have 3 unused days of annual leave, the unused-leave pay is NT$40,000 ÷ 30 × 3 = NT$4,000.
A few common illegal practices to watch for:
- The company says “unused annual leave is forfeited at year-end” — illegal. Unless you personally chose not to take it and agreed in writing to defer it to the following year, the days have to be converted into wages.
- The company says “people who leave the company don’t get unused-leave pay” — illegal. Whether you quit or were laid off, any unused annual leave still has to be paid out.
- The company lumps annual leave together with sick leave or personal leave — illegal. Annual leave is its own category and cannot be mixed in.
5 common workplace traps around annual leave
These situations show up regularly in Taiwan workplaces — know how to handle each one:
Trap 1: “You don’t get annual leave in your first year.” Since the 2017 amendment to the Labor Standards Act, you’re entitled to 3 days after 6 months of service. Any company still operating on the old “one year minimum” rule is out of compliance.
Trap 2: “Annual leave scheduling requires manager sign-off.” Submitting a form to notify the company is fine procedurally — but a manager cannot deny your leave by simply “not approving” it.
Trap 3: “Year-end, suddenly use it all.” Some companies force employees to burn through annual leave at year-end to avoid paying out unused-leave wages. If the schedule is imposed rather than negotiated, that’s contested ground.
Trap 4: “You can’t take annual leave during the resignation notice period.” The law says no such thing. You can still use annual leave throughout your notice period.
Trap 5: “The probation period doesn’t count toward tenure.” The Labor Standards Act has no concept of a “probationary period.” Your years of service start counting from day one.
What to do when your rights are violated
If you find your company isn’t following the rules on annual leave, you have several options:
Step one: raise it with HR first. Sometimes it’s a system misconfiguration or a manager who doesn’t know the regulations, and internal communication resolves it. Put it in writing (email or messaging app) so there’s a record.
Step two: if the company doesn’t address it, file a labor dispute mediation request with your local city or county labor affairs bureau. Mediation is free, and your employer cannot retaliate against you during the process.
Step three: file a complaint directly with the labor affairs bureau. Employers who violate the annual leave rules can be fined NT$20,000 to NT$1,000,000.
Whichever route you take, preserving evidence is what matters most. Your attendance records, your leave application records, and the unused-leave-pay line on your payslip are all key supporting documents. Save them into PDF backups regularly so they’re ready when you need them.
FAQ
Can annual leave be requested by the hour?
The Labor Standards Act says the minimum unit for annual leave is one day, but if employer and employee agree, leave can be taken in half-day or hourly units. In other words, if the company agrees, you can take a half-day off. What the company cannot do is force you to take leave only in hourly units as a way to raise the friction on requesting time off.
Do contract workers and dispatched workers get annual leave too?
If you have an employment relationship with an employer — whether you’re full-time, on contract, or even part-time (hourly) — you have the right to annual leave. The difference is that part-time leave is calculated on a pro-rated basis. For dispatched workers, the dispatch company is responsible for annual leave, and tenure is counted from your time with the dispatch company.
Can annual leave be deferred to next year?
Yes, but only if both employer and worker agree. Deferral is allowed once — at most, to the following year. If leave still isn’t used after deferral, the employer must convert the unused days into wages.
If I change jobs, can I carry tenure from my previous employer?
Generally, no. Annual leave tenure is anchored to the same employer — changing companies restarts the count. The exception: if a business unit is restructured or transferred and you’re retained by the successor company, your original years of service should still be recognized.
This article is based on the Labor Standards Act and related interpretations from the Ministry of Labor, and is current as of April 2026.
Annual leave is part of the compensation you’ve earned, not a favor from the company. Knowing how many days you have, how to schedule them, and what happens if you don’t use them all — that’s the baseline of looking out for yourself. Use this month to take stock of this year’s quota, and take the leave you’ve earned without guilt.