Taiwan: Man marries same woman four times in a span of 37 days to get extra paid leaves

In an unusual incident, a man who works as a clerk in a bank in Taiwan’s capital city Taipei married the same partner four times and got divorced thrice in a time span of 37 days. The man who remains anonymous did this to claim 32 days of marriage leave. According to the reports by United Daily News, the bank was issued a fine for only paying for the mandatory 8 days leave for the first marriage.

Man gets married 4 times in 37 days 

The lawyer named Lin said that the clerk registered marriage on April 6, 2020, and took 8 days to leave. Immediately after this, the clerk divorced the spouse, then registered a new marriage to the same spouse on April 17. After enjoying another 8 days of marriage leave, the clerk then divorced again on April 28 and married again on April 29. A third divorce has ensued for May 11, which will be followed by a fourth marriage to the same spouse on May 12. The bank declared the clerk’s actions as malicious abuse of marriage leave and paid leave for only the first marriage.

After being refused the extra leaves, the clerk went ahead with his plans. Also, he filed a complaint against the bank at the Taipei City Labour Bureau for having refused him offs. Also, the man alleged the bank was not following Article 2 of the Labour Leave Rules. The Bureau fined the bank NT$20,000 for not paying leave for all four marriages. 

As an aftermath, the bank filed an appeal with the Appeal’s Committee. The bank claimed that the employee’s abuse of marriage leave was not in compliance with the Labor Standards Act. The appeals committee asked the Labor Bureau to revoke the original sanction and make a new sanction within 60 days as it had not clarified whether the bank employee had abused his rights and violated the principle of good faith. According to the reports by the Taiwan English News, the Commissioner of the Labor Standards Section of the Labor Bureau Huang Jingang said that even if the employee’s practice seems unreasonable, as per the Labor Standards Law, there is no obligation that he needs to marry a different person to receive a leave. The employee should be granted a leave, as long as there is a marriage, he added. 

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