Four weddings and a fine

Keen to make the most of a statutory holiday for newlyweds, a couple from Taiwan found a novel way to maximise their honeymoon -- by marrying four times in just over a month. 

The unusual story, confirmed by Taipei's Labour Department on Wednesday, is the latest to go viral and highlight innovative, if somewhat bizarre, loophole wrangling by Taiwanese citizens.

Taiwanese companies are legally obliged to offer eight days of paid leave to newlyweds.

But an unnamed bank employee decided to game the system last year, claiming 32 days of leave using a novel ruse.

Over a period of 37 days, he and his wife got married four times and divorced three times, claiming the full eight days for each of their nuptials.

The bank balked and the employee appealed to Taipei city labour department, which initially fined his employer Tw$20,000 ($670) for violating the leave regulations.

That was because as far as the law goes, there is currently no restriction on how often an employee can apply for marriage leave.

The bank, which was only willing to offer eight days off, said the man had "abused" the law.

The case has sparked heated online criticism of the bank employee for taking advantage of legal loopholes and the labour department for issuing the fine.

Last week the Labour Department revoked the fine against the bank "to recognise a mistake and improve," it said in a statement.