Will Military, Civil Servants' Pension Arrears Be Paid Only If Applied For? Solution to Receiving New Preferential Deposit Interest Revealed — Li Lai-hsi Slams: 'Constitutional Review Is a Fake Issue'

This month marks eight years since the implementation of the military, civil servants, and teachers pension reform (nianjin gaige). The reform, initiated in 2017 and officially launched on July 1, 2018, has been mired in disputes until the passage of the 'pension cut halt' bill at the end of 2025, bringing a major shift. Approximately 180,000 affected retired military, civil servants, and teachers will have their pension arrears credited by August 1, 2026.

Regarding this, Lee Lai-hsi, former chairman of the National Civil Servants Association, who recently lamented the 'disparity' between active and retired personnel over the '4% salary increase for military and civil servants next year,' revealed on his Facebook today (8th) that retired personnel had initially doubted the government's promise to 'reimburse arrears.' However, he confirmed that his own preferential deposit interest arrears had already been reimbursed. Based on this, he stated that the pension arrears payment by August is now certain, exclaiming, 'The Ministry of Civil Service has finally woken up!' He also claimed that the constitutional review of halting pension cuts is merely a 'fake issue.'

Since the military, civil servants, and teachers pension reform was launched in 2017 and officially implemented on July 1, 2018, its core measures included phasing out the 18% preferential deposit rate and gradually reducing the replacement rate of civil servants' pensions from a maximum of 75% down to 60% (decreasing by 1.5% annually). However, by the end of 2025, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the 'Civil Servants Retirement, Dismissal, and Pension Act' and the 'Public School Staff Retirement, Dismissal, and Pension Regulations,' halting the annual reduction in pension replacement rates that had been scheduled to begin in 2024 (January 1, 2024). Instead, the replacement rate will revert to the 2023 standard.

Due to the need for pension recalculations, approximately 180,000 retired civil servants across Taiwan must have their replacement rates re-evaluated, with the assessment process expected to take about six months. The Ministry of Civil Service has now completed the re-evaluation process. Minister Shih Neng-chieh is pictured. (Photo credit: Chen Pin-you)

According to the Ministry of Civil Service, 'pension arrears' generated between the effective date of the legislation (December 28, 2025) and July 31, 2026, due to recalculation, will be reimbursed by all agencies no later than August 1, 2026. Lee Lai-hsi stated that retirees should have already received their retirement benefit determination notices, with the government's new standard fixed at the 2023 level and explicitly instructing that new retirement benefits will be credited on August 1 (including arrears from January to July). However, due to the government's poor credit record and the ongoing constitutional review, there had been lingering doubts about whether the process would be implemented as promised.

Lee Lai-hsi mentioned that he visited Taiwan Bank to process the 'retirement preferential deposit' based on the re-evaluation notice—first withdrawing and then re-depositing the amount specified in the new notice. Although it took two hours on-site due to being a new procedure, the transaction was successfully completed, and his account clearly showed the new deposit amount along with the reimbursed preferential deposit interest arrears from January to July. 'It's now certain that next month's retirement benefits will be paid under the new standard. The Ministry of Civil Service has finally woken up!' He advised retirees to carefully review their determination notices and, if the old and new preferential deposit amounts differ, to re-deposit at the bank, warning, 'The law does not protect those who sleep on their rights!'

On the other hand, Lee Lai-hsi recently congratulated active-duty military and civil servants on their salary increases in several posts but contrasted this with the disparity in treatment. He questioned why, while active personnel received two additional allowances of NT$2,000 each effective July 1, the suspension of pension cuts for retirees could not be retroactively applied from 2023. In his latest post, he argued that the constitutional review of halting pension cuts is merely a 'fig leaf' used by the ruling DPP administration to face public opinion, as the pension reform applicable uniformly to all civil servants, police, and firefighters does not increase government budget, leaving no room for manipulation in the constitutional review. 'They must have privately instructed the ruling group and the Ministry of Civil Service; otherwise, the Ministry would not dare act this way. Comrades can finally rest assured. Now we just wait for August 1 to see the real results! Best wishes to everyone!'

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