Many foreign students have worked part-time jobs during in the summer break, winter break, or on their free time after school. When employing foreign students, an employer must examine their resident permits, original certificates of enrollment, and work permit letters. The most important thing is to verify the status of their certificates, such as the personal data, residence time, residence reason, and the validity period on work permit. A photo is needed for filing and reference. Except during summer and winter vacations, the foreign students are allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours a week.
Starting from January 1, 2020, when the work-permit applications for foreign students are examined and approved by the Ministry of Labor, the work permit letter,but not the work permit certificate, will be issued to them.
To avoid employing foreign students who have not been allowed to work, the employer should request the foreign students to present their own work permit letter. By scanning the QR code on the work permit letter, a web page can be accessed by the user. The information on the web page can help verify the authenticity of the work permit letter. It is essential to make sure that the website which links on the page is https://ezwp.wda.gov.tw. Two identification cards, original Alien Resident Card and certificates of enrollment, of foreign students have to be verified. It is important to verify the identity of the holder of the work permit letter and their student status eligibility. The foreign students’ work permit status can be examined on the website: “Foreign Employees Status Query System” of the Ministry of Labor https://labor.wda.gov.tw/labweb.
Chen Hsin-Yu, the director of the Department of Labor, Taipei City Government expressed, that in practice, an employer has committed the violation when they employ a foreign student who does not have a work permit. Another situation which often happens is that a foreign student is employed with a work permit, but during that period the work permit expires.The student forgets to re-apply the work permit or the employer does not find that the work permit is not valid, which results a student with an invalid work permit is hired. Based on the Employment Service Act, the employer who commits this violation will be fined ranging from NT$150,000 to NT$750,000. According to the same law, the student will be fined from NT$30,000 to NT$150,000. When hiring foreign students, an employer needs to examine their certificates and pay attention to the validity period of their work permits, to avoid a big amount penalty.
