The Ministry of Finance invites Taiwan Banking Corporation to discuss the revision of the salary increase mechanism. Public banks are expected to raise salaries by more than 5% next year.

Mega will raise wages by 6.5% next year (file photo)

[Reporter Chen Meiying/Reported from Taipei] The Executive Yuan has approved a 4% salary increase for the military, public education and education next year. Publicly held financial institutions have performed well in terms of profits this year. Legislators have also requested the Ministry of Finance to review the salary increase mechanism for publically held banks. Finance Minister Zhuang Cuiyun said that the Bank of Taiwan, the Bank of Taiwan and the Bank of Taiwan have been invited to discuss it together, and the Bank of Taiwan will compile their opinions and evaluate whether to amend the relevant regulations. If the adjustment goes smoothly, the Bank of Taiwan and the Bank of Taiwan are also expected to be in line with other pan-public financial institutions, and the salary increase next year is expected to be more than 5%.

Dong Ruibin, chairman of Mega Gold, said that the salary increase for civil servants next year is expected to be 4%. Coupled with annual fixed promotions and salary increases, Mega Gold’s salary increase next year will be approximately 6.5%.

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Ling Zhongyuan, chairman of Taiwan Financial Holdings, said that the board of directors supports employee salary increases. It originally proposed a 4.5% salary increase plan, but the directors believed that the range was low and took the initiative to increase it to 5%. However, the relevant salary increase plan is still pending approval by the Ministry of Finance.

Zhuang Cuiyun pointed out that there are already relevant calculation principles for salary increases for public sector employees, and they have been decoupled from the civil servant salary increase system and linked to performance and other factors, so there is a certain calculation basis. As for whether the current system needs to be adjusted, the Ministry of Finance has invited the Bank of Taiwan, the Bank of Turkey and the Bank of Translation to jointly discuss it and collect opinions before evaluating the direction of correction.

Legislators requested the Ministry of Finance to consider the profit performance of public financial institutions and employees' contributions, re-examine the salary adjustment mechanism, and appropriately increase employee benefits. Dong Ruibin said that in recent years, personnel costs have increased by about 20% cumulatively, and salary increases will indeed increase cost pressure, but he will still try his best to take care of employees and bring relevant opinions back to the board of directors for discussion.

In the past, when military and public education were subject to salary increases, pan-public banks, including Mega Bank, First Bank, Heku Bank, South China Bank, Changhua Bank and Taiwan Enterprise Bank, would follow their usual practice and cooperate with salary increases. In addition, each bank would also handle employee performance appraisals and grade promotions every year, and adjust salaries based on profitability.

As for the Bank of Taiwan and the Land Bank, the salary system has been decoupled from that of civil servants, but according to regulations, salary evaluation adjustments are required every two years, with an average salary increase of about 3% to 5%. Judging from recent records, the Bank of Taiwan and the Bank of Turkey will raise salaries by 5% and 4% in 2023 and 2025 respectively.

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