An employee surnamed Huang of Dejia Engineering Co., Ltd. died in the line of duty four years ago. After the Bureau of Labor Insurance paid NT$281,060 to his family, it discovered that his employer had not insured him for occupational accident insurance since 2014. The Bureau of Labor Insurance sought compensation from the company for NT$1,345,500. Dejia Engineering refused to accept the lawsuit and resisted the penalty. The first instance held that only the NT$281,060 actually paid to the family should be paid. After the Labor Insurance Bureau appealed, the second instance of the Taipei High Administrative Court found that the calculation should be based on the one-time gold standard for survivors, and reversed the ruling that the company must still pay the full amount of 1,345,500 yuan, and the entire case was confirmed.
The judgment pointed out that an employee surnamed Huang had been working at Dejia Engineering Co., Ltd. since August 2014, but his employer failed to apply for occupational disaster insurance for him in accordance with regulations. Eight years later, Huang suffered a severe electric shock at the factory on August 19, 2022, resulting in electric shock burns to his left index finger and right forearm, and eventually died of neurological shock.
After Mr. Huang passed away, his family applied to the Labor Insurance Bureau for occupational accident death benefits. After review and approval by the Labor Insurance Bureau, it was approved on February 4, 2023, that a survivor annuity of 16,445 yuan and a funeral allowance of 149,500 yuan will be paid monthly starting from August 2022.
However, the Bureau of Labor Insurance also discovered that Dejia Engineering failed to insure Huang Nan in accordance with the law, and in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Law, it issued a letter on March 6, 2023 requiring Dejia Engineering to pay 1,345,500 yuan within 15 days.
Dejia Engineering was dissatisfied and filed an administrative lawsuit. The first instance found that Dejia Engineering only had to pay the Labor Insurance Bureau a total of 281,060 yuan to Huang's survivors, and revoked the remaining amount. The Labor Insurance Bureau was not satisfied and filed an appeal.
The Taipei High Administrative Court's second instance held that the relevant provisions of the Disaster Insurance Law and the authorized payment method consider that the annual pension for survivors is a continuing payment. If calculated based on the actual payment amount, it will be difficult to determine the amount payable by the employer in a short period of time. Therefore, the calculation should be based on the lump-sum payment basis for survivors, which does not exceed the scope of legal authorization.
The collegial panel pointed out that Mr. Huang's average monthly insured salary in the six months before his death was 29,900 yuan. According to regulations, the funeral allowance is calculated based on 5 months, and the lump-sum payment for survivors is calculated based on 40 months. The total amount of the two is 1.3455 million yuan. The amount recovered by the Labor Insurance Bureau is not illegal. The collegial panel believed that the original judgment applied the law incorrectly, so it changed the verdict and ruled that Dejia Engineering lost the case and still had to pay 1.3455 million yuan. The whole case is confirmed.
