Hiring in Taiwan through an EOR (2026)

The most common mistake foreign employers make in Taiwan is treating it like a straightforward low-cost hire. The island has a well-developed labour law framework, and the numbers add up faster than many expect. An Employer of Record (EOR) lets you put someone on a compliant Taiwanese payroll without setting up a local entity, which can take months and carries its own administrative weight.

The figures you need to keep front of mind: the monthly minimum wage sits at 27,400 TWD, employer social security contributions run at 14.59% of gross, and severance exposure averages around 11.6 weeks. Those three numbers together give you a realistic floor for what a hire actually costs before you factor in any salary premium for skilled talent.

A few things about Taiwan's employment rules catch foreign employers off guard more than others.

• Employer social security is not a small line item. At 14.59% of gross, it adds meaningfully to every payroll run. Budget for it from day one rather than treating it as a footnote.
• Severance is a real liability. An average exposure of 11.6 weeks means that ending an employment relationship carries a cost you need to plan for upfront, not after the fact.
• Notice periods are set by law. The average notice period of 3.8 weeks is a legal floor, not a suggestion. You cannot simply agree a shorter period informally and expect it to hold.
• Taiwan's labour inspectorate is active. Misclassifying a worker as a contractor when the relationship looks like employment is a compliance risk that local authorities take seriously. An EOR removes that ambiguity entirely.