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China Law Key Words · 01 Practice

Employment & Labour

Practical China law orientation, guides and related counsel

230 articles Latest update 13 Sep 2026

People, permits, work

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230 articles

  • Termination During Probation in China

    Probation makes it easier to end a Mainland China labor contract, but it is not at-will. The employer must show the employee failed the hiring conditions, and those conditions mus…

  • Sick Leave in China

    Mainland China sick leave sits on the ‘medical treatment period’ (医疗期) and city sick-pay rules, not on a single national daily rate. Tenure with the employer and cumulative servic…

  • Open-Term Employment Contracts in China

    An open-term (non-fixed-term) labor contract in Mainland China has no end date. After two consecutive fixed-term contracts or ten years’ service, the employee can generally requir…

  • Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in China

    Chinese law recognizes fixed-term, open-ended and task-completion employment contracts. A fixed expiry date can provide planning certainty, but it does not let an employer end emp…

  • Working Hours in China

    Mainland China’s default is the standard working-hour system: eight hours a day and forty hours a week. Comprehensive-calculation and irregular (flexible) systems are lawful only…

  • Overtime Pay in China

    On the standard working-hour system, Mainland China overtime is generally paid at 150% on weekdays, 200% on rest days if no compensatory leave is given, and 300% on statutory holi…

  • Annual Leave in China

    Paid annual leave in Mainland China is a statutory floor based on cumulative working years: generally 5, 10 or 15 days. Company extra leave can sit on top; unused statutory leave…

  • Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave in China

    China combines national maternity protections with province-level population and family-planning rules. National regulations provide 98 days of maternity leave, with additional ti…

  • Severance Pay in China

    China severance is not a universal payment for every employment exit. The legal route determines whether statutory economic compensation is due. Employer-proposed mutual terminati…

  • Labor Dispatch in China

    Labor dispatch (劳务派遣) is a triangular staffing model: the dispatch agency employs the worker; the host company uses them. Mainland law limits dispatch to temporary, auxiliary or s…

  • Employee Handbooks in China

    An employee handbook can support consistent workplace administration in China, but a policy is not enforceable merely because headquarters issued it or an employee signed a receip…

  • Bonus Disputes in China

    A bonus in Mainland China is payable when it has become a wage-nature entitlement — by contract, handbook, a clear formula, or a consistent practice — not merely because a global…

  • Salary Payment Rules in China

    Wages in Mainland China must be paid in full and on time, in legal currency, at least monthly. Unauthorised deductions, delayed pay and paying only in benefits or equity are the u…

  • Collective Layoffs During a Foreign-Invested Factory Relocation in China: Sequencing the Workforce Plan Without Undermining the Restructuring

    A foreign-invested manufacturer decides to relocate part of its Nanjing production, consolidate operations into another China entity and reduce headcount. The legal risk is not si…

  • Investigating Employee Kickbacks in China: How Multinationals Should Collect Evidence Without Turning a Compliance Investigation into a Privacy or Dismissal Problem

    A whistleblower reports that a procurement manager at a Suzhou factory has been receiving payments from a vendor. Headquarters wants to image the employee's laptop, collect email…

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