Professional profile
About Kevin
Employment matters
Kevin Liu practices at Hainan Huihai in Haikou with a focus on employment termination, severance and employee-rights disputes, including matters involving expatriate staff. Employment exits in China are heavily rule-driven. A termination that appears commercially justified can still create liability if the employer relies on the wrong legal ground, lacks evidence, skips required procedure or calculates compensation incorrectly. Liu’s work focuses on aligning the business reason for separation with a legally supportable route.
The starting point is usually the employment contract and the factual reason the relationship is ending. Different rules apply to termination for serious misconduct, inability to perform, material changes in circumstances, expiry of a fixed term, redundancy and mutual separation. Liu reviews contracts, employee handbooks, performance records, warnings, payroll data and communications before advising on the available options. He is particularly cautious about retroactively constructing a reason after a decision to dismiss has already been made.
Economic compensation is often central to the negotiation. Calculation depends on statutory rules concerning years of service, monthly wage and applicable caps, while certain unlawful terminations may expose the employer to a higher damages amount or a claim for reinstatement. Liu helps clients distinguish ordinary severance from compensation for illegal termination and from negotiated payments offered to secure a clean exit. Clear characterization of each amount is important in settlement documentation and payroll treatment.
For foreign employees, the analysis can be more complex because the employment relationship may intersect with work permits, residence permits, offshore contracts, secondment arrangements and remuneration paid in more than one jurisdiction. Liu examines which entity is the legal employer, where services are actually performed and whether immigration documents are consistent with the contractual arrangement. An employment termination can also create practical deadlines for permit cancellation or status changes that should be planned in advance.
Social insurance is another issue that frequently appears in disputes. Contribution obligations, local implementation and the employee’s enrollment status can affect both claims and settlement discussions. Liu does not treat social insurance as an administrative afterthought. Where contribution records are incomplete or contested, the employment dispute may extend beyond severance and involve additional administrative procedures or claims. Early review of payroll and contribution history can therefore prevent surprises during arbitration.
Exit strategy and dispute readiness
When a claim proceeds to labor arbitration, evidence becomes decisive. Employers may need to prove that rules were validly adopted and communicated, that the employee engaged in the alleged conduct or received a proper performance process, and that the termination notice clearly identified the legal basis. Employees, in turn, may rely on contracts, payslips, attendance records, messages and termination documents. Liu prepares cases with these proof requirements in mind rather than assuming the underlying business dispute will speak for itself.
He also advises on group redundancies and workforce adjustments, where the procedural and communication risks are magnified. A poorly planned reduction can produce multiple parallel claims, disrupt operations and create reputational problems. Liu’s approach is to review the legal trigger, employee selection logic, consultation or filing requirements where applicable, severance budget and consistency of communications before notices are issued. Management should know which cases are likely to settle and which may require a defended position.
Liu also reviews restrictive covenants, confidentiality duties and handover obligations at the end of employment. A termination dispute can expand quickly if the employee retains confidential information, client materials or company equipment, while an employer may overstate post-employment restrictions that are not enforceable as written. Clear exit documentation helps separate legitimate protection of business interests from retaliation or unnecessary escalation.
Another part of Liu’s work is advising on performance management before termination becomes unavoidable. Objectives, evaluation periods, feedback and improvement requirements should be understandable and documented. A performance process created only after management has decided to dismiss an employee is vulnerable to challenge. Liu helps employers build records contemporaneously and encourages managers to distinguish capability concerns from misconduct, because the legal routes and evidentiary requirements are different. For employees, the same records may show whether standards were changed, applied inconsistently or never communicated. This focus on the history of the relationship often determines whether a dispute can be resolved quickly or develops into a contested arbitration over the employer’s stated reason for dismissal.
Liu also considers timing. Notice periods, payroll cutoffs, bonus dates, annual leave and immigration deadlines can change the practical cost of an exit. Employers benefit from calculating these issues before choosing a termination date, while employees should understand which entitlements depend on continued service through a particular period. A well-planned timetable can narrow disagreement and make settlement discussions more concrete.
Liu’s employment practice is aimed at practical resolution. Some disputes call for a firm litigation strategy; others are better resolved through a carefully drafted separation agreement that addresses payment, return of property, confidentiality, references and release of claims to the extent permitted by law. His emphasis is on process, documentation and realistic risk assessment so that employers and employees can address termination disputes with a clear view of their legal position.
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