• Government further strengthens enforcement measures against social insurance fraud
• Guangdong province issues detailed implementing rules for parental leave and elder care leave
• National authorities publish guideline cases dealing with protection of women’s rights
• Guangdong High People’s Court publishes guideline case on ex-employee theft of trade secrets
• Shanghai non-compete case shows courts may look at circumstantial evidence to prove breach by employees engaged in covert competition
• Henan court case shows importance of using correct terminology in an employment termination notice

The newly amended Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women takes effect on 1 January 2023; Shanghai amends rules related to parental leave; the Supreme People’s Court issues a guiding case on how employers should handle sexual harassment in the workplace; an employee’s unsupported accusation of sexual harassment could constitute infringement of the right to reputation; the first equal opportunity case judgment in Guangdong Province is issued; and a Guangzhou court rules that a company’s internal disclosure of an employees’ information violates their privacy.

The newly revised Shanghai Labor Union Regulations came into effect on 1 June 2022. The recent round of revisions to the Regulations place emphasis on the democratic management of companies, though the revisions are stated in the form of general principles and provide little concrete guidance. The added provisions regarding gig workers are in line with recent national guidance over the past couple of years focusing on the rights and interests of gig workers. Companies with a labor union should pay particular attention to the obligation to notify the union of their unilateral termination of employment contracts.

The June edition of the China employment law update includes developments such as measures to prevent social insurance fraud being formally implemented, new guidelines being issued on the handling of employment dispute arbitration and litigation, and guidance on employment disputes relating to pandemic control measures.

The Guide to Doing Business in China provides an introduction to selected aspects relating to investment and business operations in the People’s Republic of China under current Chinese laws and policy during the COVID pandemic, including a summary of important areas of concern to all investors in China: mergers and acquisitions, data privacy issues, antitrust and competition issues, taxation, employment, intellectual property protection, trade and import and export rules, financial services, as well as anti-bribery compliance and dispute resolution issues.

In brief
• New parental and elder care leave requirements implemented throughout China
• New regulations allow employers to request criminal record searches of certain candidates and employees
• Regulations on vocational school interns undergo major revisions
• Latest amendments to Labor Union Law emphasize party leadership
• Guangzhou city further clarifies procedures for implementing mass redundancies
• Guangdong province implements new regulations concerning the human resources services market
• Supreme People’s Court holds ex-employees liable for infringement of former employer’s trade secrets
• Beijing court rejects employee’s claim that “proof of termination” affected his future employment prospects

In this issue: Supreme People’s Court and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly issue guidance on overtime and working hours issues; Government provides administrative guidance for leading platform enterprises in order to protect gig workers; Beijing announces top 10 typical employment dispute arbitration cases of 2021; Company succeeds in liquidated damages claim against social media influencer; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and three other authorities issue document supporting young people from Hong Kong and Macao to take up employment or start a business in the Greater Bay Area

The latest issue of the China employment law series looks at: what employers need to consider under the New Personal Information Protection Law, new measures to protect gig worker labor security rights and interests, the illegality of the ‘996’ work system, flexible employment measures for the Free Trade Zone enterprises, Shanghai court rulings on office phone conversations being used as evidence, Beijing court rulings on lawful dismissal, Shenzhen court rulings on dismissal, and new protection for delivery workers.

In this issue:
• Amendment to Work Safety Law issued
• Shenzhen issues electronic employment contract dispute settlement rules
• Guangdong High People’s Court publishes 10 typical labor dispute cases
• Jiangsu High People’s Court provides guidance on typical employment cases in Jiangsu Province
• Shenzhen releases Q&A on employment issues relating to COVID-19
• Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court publishes guidance on typical cases involving post-termination non-competition restrictions
• Shanghai High People’s Court rules cessation of employment legal when employee reaches statutory retirement age
• Beijing court requires general manager to return salaries due to false background information

Read publication In this issue: COVID-19 – Government announces several measures to assist employers State Council issues measures to increase job stability China reduces social insurance and housing fund burden on employers due to COVID-19 outbreak PRC lifts restrictions on wholly foreign owned HR service companies Ministry of Human Resources…