Beneficiaries of labor insurance pension payments who started receiving benefits in 2011 will be granted annuity increments, because the accumulated growth rate of the Consumer Price Index (hereinafter referred to as the "CPI") has exceeded the statutory threshold of 5% and stands at 5.1% for the year of 2016. The Ministry of Labor announced on April 21, 2017 that their labor insurance pension payments will be increased by 5.1% starting May, 2017.
The Bureau of Labor Insurance (BLI) explained the case using the following example: Assuming that the beneficiary is currently receiving NT$20,000 per month, he/she will be receiving NT$21,020 after the adjustment [(20,000*(1+5.1%)], or a monthly increase of NT$1,020. The amount will be credited to his/her account by end of June, 2017. As for the individuals who started receiving the labor insurance pension payments in 2009 and 2010, increases of 5.2% and 5.45% have been implemented in May, 2014 and May, 2015 respectively according to relevant regulations. These individuals, as well as the beneficiaries who started to receive benefits during the period of 2012 to 2016, will not be entitled to any adjustment this year since the accumulated CPI growth rate has not yet reached the statutory threshold.
Statistics show that, among the people who started receiving their labor insurance pension payment in 2011, more than 72,000 are still receiving the labor insurance pension payment (including more than 70,000 recipients of old-age pension benefits, more than two hundred recipients of disability benefits and more than a thousand recipients of survivor benefits) as of the end of February this year. On average, they will be entitled to an increased monthly payment of NT$776.
The BLI pointed out that, since the related information has already been announced by the Ministry of Labor, the BLI will not distribute any written notices to individual recipients this time. For the sake of clarity, however, the labor insurance pension payment for May, 2017, which will be effected at the end of June, will be divided into two separate entries. Using the above example, the recipients will find the following entries when updating the passbook: The account will have a credit entry of NT$20,000, which is the existing payment amount. The field of "Description" will carry the original message (for example, "labor insurance old-age" for old-age pension benefits, "labor insurance disability" for disability pension benefits, and "labor insurance survivor" for survivor pension benefits.) There will be one additional entry covering the increased NT$1,020 (or 5.1% of the original amount). The description will be "CPI adjustment".
Starting from July, 2017, the payment will go back to being recorded in a single entry of NT$21,020 and the original description will be displayed. Should you have any query about the adjustment, please visit the official website of the Bureau of Labor Insurance, Ministry of Labor: (Website: www.bli.gov.tw/en/), Link to Home – FAQ–Labor Insurance & Employment Insurance–Benefits–Labor Insurance Pension