The Floor · Taiwan
LABOUR-LAW BASICS
Attendance records in Taiwan: five years, to the minute, and a copy on request
The short answer: Article 30 of Taiwan's Labor Standards Act asks three things of you. Keep an attendance record for every worker and hold it for five years. Record every day, to the minute. And when a worker asks for a copy, do not refuse. This article explains what those three mean in a real shop, what counts as a record, and where owners most often slip.
This article is general education, not legal advice. Every business is different. Please rely on the Labour Standards Act and the Ministry of Labor's announcements, and consult a labour-law professional for your own case.
1. What the law actually says
Paragraph 5 of Article 30 reads: 「雇主應置備勞工出勤紀錄，並保存五年。」 The employer must keep attendance records for workers and preserve them for five years. Paragraph 6 continues: 「前項出勤紀錄，應逐日記載勞工出勤情形至分鐘為止。勞工向雇主申請其出勤紀錄副本或影本時，雇主不得拒絕。」 The record must be kept daily, to the minute, and when a worker asks for a copy the employer may not refuse.
Why does the law care so much? Because paragraph 1 of the same article sets the working-hour caps, 8 hours a day and 40 a week, and the attendance record is the only evidence of who worked how long, whether overtime was paid correctly and whether rest days were given. Without the record, nothing can be shown either way.
2. Why "to the minute" matters
Because overtime and breaks are counted in minutes. If your system rounds to the nearest 15 minutes, or a notebook says "nine o'clock" when the person arrived at 09:12, the record is not what the law calls 「至分鐘為止」, and every wage figure calculated from it is off by the same amount.
3. What counts as an attendance record
The law names no device. A fingerprint scanner, a sign-in book, an app or a GPS tap are all acceptable, as long as three things hold: a record every day, to the minute, and retrievable for five years. A photo in the LINE group saying "I'm here" is not a record: it has no exact time and cannot be found five years later.
4. The penalty
Article 79 sets the fines. No record, or records not kept for five years (paragraph 5): NT$90,000 to NT$450,000. Records not to the minute, or a copy refused (paragraph 6): NT$20,000 to NT$1,000,000. The authority may raise the fine by up to half the statutory maximum according to the size of the business, the number of workers affected and the seriousness of the breach.
5. The four places shops slip
- The records live only inside the scanner. The day it breaks or is replaced, five years of records go with it
- A sign-in book kept to the hour, not the minute
- A branch closes and its records are thrown out, years before the five are up
- A worker asks for a copy and waits a week, because someone has to pull it from a machine or dig through a book
6. How to sleep at night
- One system across every branch, with the records held outside any device and outside the shop
- Export the attendance report every month to a file and keep it somewhere you own, such as the company's cloud drive
- Keep them after a worker leaves. The five years run from the day the record was made, not the day the person left
- Make a copy request a one-tap job, not a search
THE REAL SCREEN · CHECK-IN
In WorkCo the employee taps in from their own phone, the time is recorded to the minute against the assigned shift, and the attendance report exports to a file whenever you want. The five-year duty is yours: export monthly and keep the files.
7. Where WorkCo helps, and where it does not
WorkCo records every tap in and out to the minute, from the employee's own phone, inside a GPS radius you set, with no device to fail, and the report exports to a file across every branch at once. What WorkCo does not do for you is carry the legal five-year duty. The system keeps your records while your account is open; the copy you own is the file you export and keep.
Sources: Labor Standards Act, Articles 30 and 79 (law.moj.gov.tw, N0030001), read on 2026-09-04.
Frequently asked questions
How long must attendance records be kept?
Five years, under Article 30 paragraph 5, counted from when the record was made. A worker leaving does not end the duty.
Do I need a scanner?
No. The law names no device. A book, an app or a GPS tap all work, provided the record is daily, to the minute, kept five years and available as a copy on request.
Can I refuse a copy?
No. Paragraph 6 says plainly that the employer may not refuse, and refusing is fined under Article 79.
What are the fines?
No record or not kept five years: NT$90,000 to NT$450,000. Not to the minute or a copy refused: NT$20,000 to NT$1,000,000, and up to half the maximum more for scale and seriousness, under Article 79.
To the minute, exportable every month
WorkCo records check-ins to the minute from the employee's phone, with no device to fail, and exports the report across every branch. Free in Taiwan up to 20 employees, starting in LINE.