By KHT Staff. Generated image for illustration purposes only.
KAOHSIUNG — A Thai restaurant owner who allowed her husband to cook and wash dishes without work authorization has received a suspended sentence, despite not paying him for the work.
The Kaohsiung District Court (高雄地方法院) sentenced the Thai woman, identified by the surname Chen (陳), to 30 days’ detention, suspended for two years. She must also pay NT$20,000 to the national treasury. The ruling can be appealed, Liberty Times reported Nov. 11.
Chen’s Thai husband had entered Taiwan to join his wife, but his application for a work permit was rejected. Facing a staffing shortage, she allowed him to prepare food, wash dishes, and perform other kitchen tasks from February 2025.
Inspectors from the Kaohsiung Labor Affairs Bureau (高雄市政府勞工局) discovered him working during a visit on March 24 that year.
According to the report’s account of the judgment, Chen had previously been fined NT$160,000 in August 2024 for allowing unauthorized work by a foreign national.
The Employment Service Act (就業服務法) provides criminal penalties for repeat violations within five years. Article 44 prohibits allowing foreign nationals to work illegally, while Article 63 sets out the penalties.
In suspending the sentence, the court considered the restaurant’s staffing difficulties, the financial pressures facing the family of three, and the fact that Chen had not paid her husband. Those circumstances reduced the punishment but did not prevent a conviction.
Work rights differ according to immigration status. Foreign nationals married to Taiwanese citizens with household registration, and approved for residency, are exempt from applying for a work permit under Article 48. That exemption should not be confused with the circumstances in this case, which involved two Thai nationals.
Editor’s note: The supplied report contradicts itself on the earlier offense’s timing. This draft uses the August 2024 date given in its account of the judgment, rather than the phrase “five years ago,” used in separate reports.
