Sick Leave in China

Sick leave is a protected medical period plus a city-specific sick-pay formula.

During a statutory medical treatment period, the employer generally cannot use ordinary no-fault termination. The length of that period depends on years with this employer and total working years (commonly 3 to 24 months). Sick pay during the period is set mainly by local rules and is often a fraction of the wage, subject to a local minimum. A hospital certificate, not a WeChat photo of a pharmacy bag, is the usual evidence. After the period, termination if still unfit follows a specific statutory path, not a casual ‘you are ill’ WeChat.

The classification screen

4 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

Is this ordinary sick leave or an occupational injury?

Work injury is a different statute, pay and termination lock.

Type

How long is the medical treatment period?

Map employer tenure and total working years to the 1994/1995 MOHRSS bands.

Duration

What sick-pay rate does this city use?

Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen formulas are not identical.

Pay

Are medical certificates complete?

Hospital, dates, rest days and follow-up visits.

Proof

Working rule: During a statutory medical treatment period, the employer generally cannot use ordinary no-fault termination.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal

Ask the operating question

Why it changes the route

Termination during illness

Is HR proposing to fire during a still-running medical period?

That termination is often unlawful and expensive.

Work injury mix-up

Did the condition arise from work?

Wrong scheme means wrong pay and wrong lock-out of termination.

City formula

Was sick pay set at a HQ rate instead of the workplace city’s rule?

Underpayment claims are local.

Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01Medical certificatesHospital diagnosis, rest period and next visit.

02Tenure fileThis-employer years and cumulative working years.

03Sick-pay calcCity rule, wage base and amounts actually paid.

04Attendance vs certificatesWhether rest days line up with clock data.

Common confusions

Questions people ask before they build.

Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.

Can we fire someone who is often sick but still within the medical period?

Generally not on a no-fault or illness ground. Serious misconduct remains a different article if it is truly made out. Do not dress performance as illness termination.

Is there a national sick-pay percentage?

No single nationwide percentage. Use the workplace city’s rule and keep the medical-period clock separate from the pay formula.

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

National laws database (NPC)

PRC Labor Contract Law (gov.cn)

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security

Supreme People’s Court