Taiwan’s labor regulator recently revised its Enforcement Rules for the Employment Services Act following the Act’s amendment late last year.

In November, the Legislature enacted an amendment to the Employment Services Act prohibiting employers from asking employment candidates “to provide private information not necessary for employment.” ESA § 5 (translation revised).

The recent revision to the Enforcement Rules lists specific types of private information subject to this rule. These include

• Physical: DNA test results, results of tests for controlled substances, results of medical testing, HIV or IQ test results, and fingerprints.
• Mental: psychological testing results and  truthfulness or lie detector tests
• Personal Information: credit records, criminal records, plans to have children, and background checks. Enforcement Rules  § 1-1.

When  employers ask employees to provide these kinds private information, they are not permitted to exceed the necessary scope of their specific objectives based on economic need or protection of the public interest. In addition, the private information must bear a legitimate and reasonable  relationship to the employer’s objective.

Employers who ask their employees to provide private information irrelevant to employment are subject to an administrative fine ranging from NT$60,000 (c. US$2,000) to NT$300,000 (c. US$10,000).