Labour Disputes Handling Procedures (Employees)

• The employee may make enquiries to the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) about the problems of labour rights and interests he/she has encountered at work so that he/she can know the labour conditions and the rights and interests required by the labour legislation.
• If the employee thinks that his/her labour rights and interests are infringed, e.g. arrears of wages, overtime work, compensation for work performed on weekly rest days and mandatory holidays and dismissal compensation, he/she may report to the DSAL.
• After receiving the complaint made by the employee in person, the DSAL will file a case for investigation to verify the labour rights and interests of both employer and employee.
• The procedures for handling labour dispute cases are mainly as follows:

• The investigator will have a preliminary understanding of the subject matters of the labour dispute;
• He/she will try to coordinate the employer and the employee to settle the labour dispute;
• He/she will collect evidence from both parties, e.g., the documents, and will ask both parties or the witness to make declarations;
• He/she will analyse the case materials and will handle the case according to law:

• In the case that the employer violates the law:
  • Legal papers will be issued to the employer to require him/her to pay the employee the amount of money owed within the prescribed period of time if it is a contravention.
    • The employee will be informed of collecting the money if the employer has settled the payment.
    • The case will be sent to court for handling and the employee will be informed of it if the employer has not settled the payment.
  • A notification of accusation will be issued to the employer if it is an administrative offence; a notification of punishment will be issued to the employer if the offence is not rectified within the prescribed period of time.  If the fine is not paid, such matter will be sent to the Financial Services Bureau to have the fine collected coercively.  
• In the case that the employer does not violate the law
  • The case will be archived; however, it shall be without prejudice to the DSAL’s reinvestigation into the case upon the employee’s request when new evidence is given.

• Making enquiries and complaints in person: 

• Office hours：Monday to Friday 9:00-13:00, 14:30-19:30, 1^st Floor of the DSAL
• If the matters mentioned by the employee satisfy the conditions for filing a case for investigation, he/she will be given a complaint receipt immediately, which contains the case number, subject matters of the complaint, the case investigator’s name and his/her contact methods.
• The employee may contact the case investigator to enquire about the progress of the case during the handling process.
• Job-matching and referral services, information and suggestions on vocational training will also be offered to the resident employee who would like to look for a new job.