Franchise Opening Hours in Taiwan: Checking Owner Attendance, Closure and Staffing Requirements

When choosing a franchise in Taiwan, many prospective franchisees compare only the franchise fees without asking some essential questions: must you be on site every day? Can you close early during the quiet season? Can you suspend trading if your manager leaves? Joining a franchise network may involve a long-term commitment of staff and time, as well as capital. Before deciding whether a brand suits you, establish who must run the outlet, how long it must open each day and when it can close.

1. Establish whether you can invest without running the outlet yourself

Do not assume that ‘head office will help with management’ means you never need to be on site. Ask the franchise recruitment team for the agreement, operations manual and any relevant attachments. Check each document for requirements such as ‘full-time operation’, ‘personal management’, ‘attendance by the person in charge’ and ‘manager qualifications’. Then ask head office to explain in writing how these requirements work in practice.

The key question is not whether you can employ a manager, but whether you still have personal obligations once you do:

• Who bears the obligation? Is it the person signing the agreement, the company’s legally designated responsible person, or a nominated manager approved by head office?
• How much time must they commit? Are there minimum days per week, hours per day or specified periods of attendance? Do the requirements differ between the initial opening period and routine operations?
• Can someone else stand in? Can a family member, business partner or manager provide cover? Do they need prior approval or specified training?
• What happens if you cannot attend? Will you receive a notice requiring corrective action, have to appoint replacement management, or risk being found in breach of contract?

If you intend to keep your existing job, explain your plans directly to head office and ask it to confirm whether they meet the franchise conditions. If a recruiter says verbally that you can run the business part-time but the agreement requires full-time management, that is not a minor discrepancy to leave until after opening.

2. How do Taiwan’s rules help you find out about restrictions in advance?

Taiwan has no single dedicated franchise law, but that does not mean franchising is unregulated. Franchise transactions are subject to the Fair Trade Act, while contractual rights and obligations must also be assessed under general legislation such as the Civil Code. The Fair Trade Commission has also issued its Disposal Directions (Guidelines) on the Business Practices of Franchisors. These provide a basis for administrative enforcement in relevant cases; they are not a franchise accreditation scheme.

The important information that franchisors must disclose under these guidelines includes restrictions on the franchise relationship during the term of the agreement. Where opening hours, personal attendance and manager qualifications constitute such restrictions, ask head office to set them out clearly as part of this disclosure, rather than leaving you to learn about them from a field representative after opening.

Under point 3 of the guidelines, information should be supplied ten days before a franchise or preliminary franchise relationship is established, within a period deemed reasonable in the particular case, or within a period agreed by both parties. Exceptions apply where there are legitimate grounds for not providing it. A failure to provide the required information without legitimate grounds constitutes a violation of Article 25 of the Fair Trade Act only where it is also sufficient to affect trading order. The omission of a particular term alone is therefore not enough to conclude that the law has been broken.

Disclosure does not mean a term is reasonable, nor does it give you a right to close the outlet. You still need to assess whether you can meet the restrictions that head office has disclosed. Any exceptions you need should be negotiated separately and written into the agreement.

3. Translate opening commitments into staffing costs

‘Open all year round’ may sound like a simple brand requirement, but it can determine the staffing structure of the entire outlet. Ask head office to specify minimum opening hours for weekdays, weekends and holidays, and whether preparation, cleaning and stocktaking must take place before opening or after closing.

Next, draw up a weekly staff rota showing the roles and number of people needed for each time slot. Do not calculate wages using trading hours alone: shift handovers, break cover, deliveries and closing-time cleaning may all require additional working time. Franchise requirements do not override an employer’s legal duties concerning working hours, rest periods and leave.

Test at least three scenarios: normal staffing, your own temporary absence, and the departure of a key employee. For each, ask who will provide cover, whether the arrangement meets head office’s requirements and who will bear any additional costs. If the only answer is that you will work unlimited extra hours yourself, the model may not suit you.

Even if you initially take no salary, include the cost of employing someone to replace you in your internal budget. This is not a fee that head office necessarily charges; it is an important figure for assessing whether your commitment to the franchise is sustainable. When comparing brands, put minimum opening hours, minimum staffing levels at any one time and manager qualifications in the same table. This will reveal more than a comparison of franchise fees alone.

4. Turn closure, cover and emergency arrangements into workable contract terms

Trading rules should not simply say ‘as instructed by head office’. At a minimum, they should specify core opening hours, a procedure for making changes, and separate arrangements for routine requests and emergency notifications.

Routine requests might cover regular closure days, family commitments, equipment maintenance and shorter hours during the quiet season. During negotiations, ask for clear terms on how far in advance to apply, who handles the request, what information you must provide and how quickly head office must respond. Do not assume that silence means approval; instead, you can negotiate a separate procedure for overdue responses.

Emergency arrangements should distinguish between power cuts, equipment failures, illness and situations that may threaten safety, such as typhoons. You can negotiate provisions allowing you to take necessary safety measures first in the event of imminent danger, then notify head office and submit records in the agreed manner. This avoids having to manage a safety risk while worrying about breaching your opening obligations.

If head office offers a temporary manager or a service to run the outlet on your behalf, establish whether support is guaranteed, how charges are calculated, how long it can continue, and how responsibility for cash, stock and staff supervision will be handed over. ‘We can help’ is not the same as having support staff available whenever you need them.

Practical takeaway: Before signing, prepare a workable staff rota and obtain written confirmation from head office of the arrangements for owner attendance, closures and cover. The right franchise is not simply one whose start-up costs you can afford. It must also be able to operate safely, reliably and in line with the agreement when you cannot be there every day.