Underreported Insured Salary what the gap actually costs
Taiwanese employers must insure you at your actual monthly wage. When they file a lower figure, the loss is not just cheaper premiums — less money lands in your pension account every month, and unemployment and old-age benefits shrink with it. This works out the gap in NT dollars, and separates illegal underreporting from the statutory ceiling — a distinction most people get wrong.
These are sample numbers — replace them with your own and it recalculates as you type.
Three numbers
“Total wage” is more than base pay — allowances, attendance pay and regular monthly bonuses all count as regular remuneration under Art. 2(3) of the Labor Standards Act. Not sure what your employer filed? See the first section below.
How to check what was actually filed
You do not need to ask your employer. These are official records you can pull yourself:
- Bureau of Labor Insurance e-service Sign in with a Citizen Digital Certificate, NHI card or mobile authentication to see your insured salary history and the monthly contributions to your individual pension account. BLI personal enquiry system
- The annual paper statement The BLI mails your pension account statement once a year; you can request a reprint online.
- Your payslip deductions Insurance is deducted as a percentage of the insured figure, so a small deduction means a low filing. Cross-check with the take-home pay calculator.
Check labor insurance and the pension separately. They use two different bracket tables with two different ceilings (NT$45,800 and NT$150,000), and they are two separate enquiries in the e-service. Checking only one misses the other.
Channels that exist, and what each one does
These are the routes the system provides and what each actually achieves — not a recommendation about which to take. That depends on your situation, including whether you still work there.
- Confirm before concluding A mismatch is not always underreporting: filings take effect the month after a raise, one-off bonuses are excluded, and wages above the ceiling are capped by law.
- Raise it with the BLI The BLI investigates and orders the employer to pay the shortfall, with late-payment surcharges and fines under Art. 53 of the Labor Pension Act. Back-contributions go into your account; fines go to the treasury, not to you.
- Labour dispute mediation Apply at the local labour bureau where you work. Free, and litigation only comes up if mediation fails.
- Helplines Ministry of Labor 1955 (24h), BLI +886-2-2396-1266.
On anonymity, plainly: complaints can be filed without your name, but insured salaries are filed per person — at a company of a few people, anonymous is the same as named. Only you can weigh that. It is stated here because leaving it out would be deciding it for you.
How this is calculated (verified 2026-08-11)
- The insured figure is not the employer's choice: it must match total monthly wage against the official bracket table (Labor Insurance Act Art. 14). Filing low is penalised under Art. 72, which also provides that the insured unit compensates the worker for the resulting loss.
- Pension contribution: monthly contribution wage × 6% (Labor Pension Act Art. 14 — 6% is the floor, not the cap). It uses the contribution wage table, ceiling NT$150,000, not labor insurance's NT$45,800. This is the single most misread point on the page.
- Unemployment benefit: average insured salary × 60%, up to six months. That line only applies to involuntary separation; resigning voluntarily does not qualify.
- Old-age pension takes the higher of two formulas; for most people it is average insured salary over the highest 60 months × years of service × 1.55%. So underreporting reduces it every month, for life.
- Time limits: claims for pension shortfalls lapse two years after you become aware, and five years after the loss occurs (Labor Pension Act Art. 31). Each month runs its own clock, so the page separates the portion already beyond five years.
What this does not do: ① It assumes the wage and the filing were constant across the whole period. Real histories vary; the BLI's month-by-month record governs. This gives you the order of magnitude, not a figure to invoice. ② It assumes the pension contribution wage equals the insured salary you entered. Employers who underreport usually file the same figure for both, but they are filed separately — check each. ③ Not included: investment returns on the pension fund, late-payment surcharges, shortfalls in injury or maternity benefits, or voluntary employer contributions above 6%. ④ The old-age pension lines assume this salary level continues to retirement. A later raise dilutes the effect. They are shown because it is the only lifelong item, and the easiest to underestimate. ⑤ National Health Insurance also has an insured amount, but underreporting it rarely costs you money — see the FAQ.
Common questions
My employer says a lower filing means lower premiums for me. Is that true?
Your deduction is smaller, but you are trading future money for small change now. On a NT$41,000 wage filed at NT$29,500: you save a few hundred a month in premiums, while your employer puts NT$750 a month less into your pension account — money that came out of the employer's pocket, not your salary. You saved nothing and lost the whole amount. Unemployment and old-age benefits are on top of that.
I earn NT$60,000 and I'm insured at NT$45,800. Is that underreporting?
Not for labor insurance. Yes for the pension. NT$45,800 is the statutory ceiling of the labor insurance bracket table, so capping there is what the law requires. But the pension contribution ceiling is NT$150,000 — a NT$60,000 wage should be contributing at the NT$60,800 bracket. Two tables, two ceilings; employers frequently file the same number for both, so labor insurance looks lawful while the pension is quietly short. The calculator separates the two.
My health insurance is underreported too. Does that cost me?
Usually not — you pay lower premiums. National Health Insurance pays for medical care, not a cash amount scaled to your insured figure, so a low filing does not buy you worse treatment. The fund loses out, not you. That difference is why this page covers only labor insurance and the pension. The one exception is the supplementary premium on bonuses above a multiple of your insured amount: a suppressed figure brings that threshold forward, and that part you genuinely overpay.
I already left. Can I still pursue it?
It depends on timing. Pension shortfall claims lapse two years after you become aware and five years after the loss (Labor Pension Act Art. 31), and each month runs its own clock — so it is not all-or-nothing at separation; months drop off one by one. The calculator separates the portion already past five years. Leaving does not affect your right to pull your own contribution history from the BLI.
I signed a voluntary resignation letter and only then found the underreporting. Can I claim severance?
These are two separate things. Severance is calculated on average wage, not on the insured figure, so underreporting does not reduce it. As for using the underreporting to claim severance: Art. 14(1)(6) of the Labor Standards Act does let a worker terminate where the employer breaches labour law to the worker's detriment, with severance under Art. 17 — but Art. 14 is a right to terminate the contract, and where the contract has already ended by resignation the position is very different, on top of the 30-day limit in Art. 14(2). Outcomes turn on the specific facts; contact your local labour bureau, call 1955, or consult a lawyer.
Disclaimer
This is not legal advice. This page organises publicly available information. Reading or using it creates no advisory, retainer, or contractual relationship. Individual outcomes depend on the specific facts and on how the authorities read them — the Ministry of Labor, the Bureau of Labor Insurance, and your local labour bureau are the only binding sources. Decisions made from this page, and their consequences, are your own.