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  • Interpretation
  • No.560【Under Translation】
  • Date
  • 2003/07/04
  • Issue
    • Is an alien employee entitled to claim burial compensation under Article 62 of the Labor Insurance Act for the death of his dependent who did not live with the employee inside the territory of jurisdiction of the Act and died outside such territory?
  • Holding
    •     Labor insurance is a social welfare program established by the Legislature under the nation’s fundamental policy as manifested by the Constitution for protecting workers and implementing the social insurance program, with the purpose of guaranteeing workers a stable livelihood and promoting the social security. The insurance fund established as a part of the labor insurance program is composed of an insurance premium paid by the insured persons and the portion shared by employers in addition to the pro rata subsidies from governments at all levels. Under the Labor Insurance Act, payment is made mainly for medical care, disability, retirement, death, and other events occurring to the insured. The provision of Article 62 of the Act whereby an insured may claim the benefit of burial compensation for the death of his parent, spouse, or child is designed to alleviate the increased financial burden on the insured as a result of the loss of a member of his family, and the payment thereunder is certainly distinguishable from the regular compensation payable against an insured event that occurred to the insured himself in that it carries concurrently the nature of social aid and as such must be determined depending upon whether the person to whom the insured event occurs is covered under the protection provided by the social security program. The Employment Services Act promulgated on May 8, 1992, provides in Article 43, Paragraph 5, that in the case of death of a dependant of an alien employee occurring outside the jurisdictional territory of the Labor Insurance Act, no entitlement to burial compensation may be claimed. This is a special provision enacted for the purpose of social security within the sphere of legislative discretion and is not contrary to the essence embodied in Articles 7 and 15 of the Constitution.
      
  • Reasoning
    •     Labor insurance is a social welfare program established by the state under the nation’s fundamental policy as manifested by the Constitution for protecting workers and implementing the social insurance program, with the purpose of guaranteeing workers a stable livelihood and promoting the social security. Under the Labor Insurance Act, the insurance fund established as a part of the labor insurance program is composed of the insurance premium paid by the insured persons and the portion shared by the insured units in addition to the pro rata subsidies from governments at all levels. The operation of such insurance program is also financed by the state (See Labor Insurance Act, Article 15 and Chapter 5).  Under said Act, payment is made mainly for medical treatment, disability, retirement, death, and other events occurring to the insured. The purpose of Article 62 of the Act, whereby an insured is entitled to payment in a sum equal to one and one half to three months of his average wage for which he is insured in the case of the death of his parent, spouse, or child, is to alleviate the burden on the worker’s family finances and to help him maintain financial stability by way of making available to him burial compensation to meet his increased expenses incurred as a result of the loss of a member of his family. To the extent that such payment is made available in the case where an insured event occurred to a person other than the insured, it is certainly distinguishable from the compensation payable against an insured event that occurred to the insured in that it carries concurrently the nature of social aid, and the Legislature is empowered to define the necessary coverage of such payment consistent with the essence expressed above by taking into account whether the person to whom the insured event occurs is covered under the protection to be accorded by the social security program.
      
    •     The Employment Services Act promulgated on May 8, 1992, is enacted for the purpose of promoting the employment of nationals and furthering the social and economic development. The Act provides in Article 43, Paragraph 5 (re-numbered Article 46 in the Employment Services Act amended on January 21, 2002, in which the clause herein cited was deleted) that in the case of the death of a dependant of an alien employee occurring outside the territory where the Labor Insurance Act is implemented, no entitlement to burial compensation shall be available. It means that no burial compensation may be claimed by an alien employee for the death of his dependent if such dependent did not live with the alien employee inside the jurisdictional territory of the Act and died outside such territory. As already stated above, the restriction set forth in the Employment Services Act is based on the consideration of the function of the social security system and the fact that such burial compensation is different in nature from the regular labor insurance coverage. From the viewpoint of eligibility for social aid, a dependent who lives in a foreign country instead of with the alien employee inside the territory of jurisdiction of the Act is distinguishable from the dependent of a local worker and the dependent of an alien employee living with him inside the territory of jurisdiction of the Act in the degree of reliance on living expenses. Thus, because of the particular nature of such benefit and considering the social appropriateness as a significant factor of the social security program and the degree of protection provided by foreign governments to workers from the Republic of China, it is essential that the Legislature makes reasonable adjustment of the coverage of such benefits to save expenditure from the insurance fund and the legislation gives rise to no problem of discrimination. We conclude that the provision of the Employment Services Act, Article 43, Paragraph 5, is consistent with the intent of Article 23 of the Constitution and is not in contradiction to the right of equality set forth in Article 7 of the Constitution and the right of property set forth in Article 15 of the Constitution. 
      
    • *Translated by Raymond T. Chu.
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