China – Employment Law Update

The Departments of Human Resources and Social Security in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Have Jointly Issued the Guidelines for Compliant Employment in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Labor Dispatch

On February 3, 2024, the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Tianjin Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, and the Hebei Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department issued the Guidelines for Compliant Employment in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Labor Dispatch. The Guidelines clarify the distinction between labor dispatch and labor outsourcing in terms of work outcome measures. Meanwhile, it is worth-noting that the Guidelines also clarify: (a) the circumstances under which the administrative license period for labor dispatch will not be extended; (b) the specific requirements for the annual report on the operation of labor dispatch; (c) the conclusion of labor contracts and the necessary terms of labor contracts; (d) the higher obligations given to labor dispatch entities; (e) the termination of the labor contract and restatement after illegal termination under labor dispatch, the calculation rules for the proportion of dispatched personnel and the determination of auxiliary work positions, etc. (More details can be found in the NEW REGULATIONS section).

CPPCC Member Propose to Solve the Problem of “Online Overtime Working” to Ensure Employees’ Rest Time

During the Two Sessions this year, Lv Guoquan, a member of the CPPCC and director of the General Office of the ACFTU proposed to incorporate the “Offline Rest Right” into legislation. The right to offline rest shall refer to the employees’ rights to refuse to make work contacts or deal with work-related matters through digital tools outside the statutory or agreed working hours. He suggested that legislatures should improve top-level design by introducing the right to offline rest in labor legislation; revise the standard working hour to clearly define online overtime and working hour compensation and make institutional arrangements for working limits for positions with irregular working hours and high work intensity based on the network. Meanwhile, he suggested that employers should be guided to incorporate clauses in employment contracts on defining offline rest right and the compensation for online overtime work accordingly, and make agreements about the standards for online overtime compensation. For employers’ requirement of overtime work online, law enforcement authorities should impose strict rules over supervision and punishment, thus increasing the costs of illegal activities.

Government Work Report: The average fiscal subsidy for urban residents’ medical insurance has been raised by CNY30, and the minimum monthly standard for basic pensions has been increased by CNY20

On March 5, Premier Li Keqiang mentioned in the Government Work Report that the basic medical fiscal subsidies will continue increasing this year, and the fiscal subsidy standard for urban and rural residents’ medical insurance will be raised by CNY30 to CNY670 per person per year. The Report also focuses on the problems highlighted by the public, such as difficulty in accessing medical care and reimbursement, emphasizing the implementation and improvement of cross-regional medical expense settlement and stressing patient-centered improvement of medical services, as well as promoting mutual recognition of inspection and test results. Regarding social security, the Report proposes to continue increasing the basic pension for retirees while raising the minimum monthly standard for urban and rural residents’ basic pensions by CNY20. Currently, there are 170 million elderly people nationwide receiving pension benefits. This year, the minimum standard will be increased by CNY20, a growth of 19.4%, marking one of the largest increases in recent years.

Several Regions Adjust Injury Insurance and Pension Insurance Premium Rates

On March 25, Guangdong, Jiangxi and other provinces and municipalities adjusted the base rate of 2024 injury insurance and the proportion of pension insurance premiums. Wherein Guangdong, employers shall pay the basic pension insurance premiums for employees at 15% since April 2024. And in Jiangxi, since April 1, 2024, the base rate of work-related injury insurance for industries from Class II to Class VIII will be uniformly reduced by 20%, for the industry employees’ total salary of 0.32%, 0.56%, 0.72%, 0.88%, 1.04%, 1.28%, 1.52% (Class I industry will not be adjusted and maintain 0.2%) while the base rate for basic express branches prioritizing participation in work-related injury insurance will be adjusted to 0.8%.

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security Repeals 17 Wage-related Documents

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued the Notice on Repealing Some Documents, announcing the abolition of seventeen documents. The abolished documents include the Measures on the Implementation of Linking Total Wage with Economic Benefits in State-owned Enterprises, the Measures on Implementation of Labor Wage Management in State Pilot Enterprise Groups, the Wage Fund Management Manual, the Circular of the Establishment of a Wage Guidance Price System in the Labor Market, and the Interim Measures on the Administration of Migrant Workers’ Wage Payment in the Construction Sector.

Suzhou Intermediate Court Releases 2018-2023 Top 10 Typical Cases of Labor Disputes Regarding Female Employees

On March 7, Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court released the 2018-2023 Suzhou Court Labor Dispute Trial Work Report and Top 10 Typical Cases Regarding Female Employees. In case five, the Court clarified that the employer shall not demote an employee’s job position or salary for failure to meet the original performance target due to maternity leave or breastfeeding period. In that case, Ms. Song took maternity leave from September 14, 2018 to February 11, 2019. The Company claimed that Ms. Song’s performance from September 2018 to October 2019 was unsatisfactory, so the Company demoted and reduced her salary twice in July and September 2019. The Court of first instance held that the Company’s demotion and salary reduction of Ms. Song based on her maternity leave and breastfeeding period performance assessment lacked justification. The Company did not pay the full amount of reward according to the pre-maternity leave salary standard, and the claim for compensation was legally justified. (More details can be found in the PRACTICE REFERENCE section).

Tianjin Launches Special Enforcement and Inspection Actions for Labor Protection of Female and Underage Employees

From March 11 to May 31, 2024 Tianjin Human Resources and Social Security Comprehensive Administrative Enforcement Team, in cooperation with other relevant departments, will randomly select 45 employers across the city to carry out special actions. The inspection focused on enterprises in manufacturing, healthcare and social work as well as wholesale and retail industries. The inspection mainly includes the following: the employer’s labor protection system and regulations on the legitimate rights and interests of female employees; maternity leave benefits for female employees; gender discrimination by the employer in the recruitment of female employees; and equality between female and male employees in terms of work remuneration and welfare benefits.

Anjie Broad, China, a Transatlantic Law International Affiliated Firm.  

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