The law is an Ass: A couple married and divorced 4 times in a span of 37 days so they could take advantage of a honeymoon-leave loophole
- A Taiwanese couple used their nuptials to game the system and make the most of a honeymoon holiday.
- In the span of 37 days, they married four times and divorced three times.
- The man’s employer said he was entitled to only eight days off, but he ended up claiming 32.
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A Taiwanese couple who got hitched last April found an unexpected way to benefit from their nuptials — not by purchasing budget decorations or snagging venue deals, but by gaming the system to get free vacation days.
The South China Morning Post reported Wednesday that in 37 days, the couple — who were not named in documents — married four times and divorced three times, exploiting a loophole in Taiwan’s labor laws, under which an eight-day leave is provided for newlyweds. By marrying four times, the man claimed 32 days’ worth of vacation days.Follow Insider on Facebook
The bank refused to approve the man’s leave claims though. According to The New York Times, he took the case to the Taipei city labor department, which ended up fining the bank NT$20,000 (about $710) for violating leave regulations.
This fine on the bank was revoked last week when the head of the Taipei city labor department said the city would reexamine the regulation to prevent the loophole from being exploited again.
According to the Chinese media outlet Sohu, the duo first married on April 6, 2020, and divorced ten days later on April 16. They got hitched a second time one day later, on April 17, but filed for another divorce on April 28.
They repeated this cycle two more times — marrying on April 29 and divorcing for the third and, hopefully, last time — on May 11. The couple then wed for the fourth time on May 12.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Huang Shanshan posted on Facebook that the Taiwanese labor bureau will need to reevaluate the marriage-leave policy to avoid it being abused.
“In this case, it is clear that the employee used the marriage leave and exploited a loophole to benefit from it. The laws exist for the benefit of the people, and people should not act in bad faith,” Huang said.
Taiwan is not the only place that provides a leave entitlement for newlyweds. Malta allows employees to take two days off, and in Vietnam and China, it is not uncommon for people to apply to take three days off work when they wed.
This article was first published by Insider.Com
