China Law & Practice

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Employment regulations may prove a burden for employers

Companies had been expecting clarification from China’s Implementing Regulations for its Employment Contract Law in September. But many of the more ambitious provisions remain unsolved.

Issue: October 2008

Keywords (click to search): Guangdong Labour Labour Contract Law Employment PRC Employment Contract Law severance pay wages employers workers

By Joanna Law

The State Council passed the Implementing Regulations for the PRC Employment Contract Law (中华人民共和国劳动合同法实施条例)on September 18 2008. The regulations aim to clarify uncertainties contained in the Employment Contract Law1 issued on January 1. These include the lack of guidance on employee contracts and unclear definitions regarding temporary workers. Many lawyers welcome the fact that the new regulations offer guidance on how the double salary penalty should be applied to employers, and the definition of employers. But they note that the regulations only partially clear many of the ambiguities inherent in the earlier law.

“It’s in line with what we were expecting but not in line with what we were hoping,” says Matthew Durham, a consultant at Simmons & Simmons.

The final version of the Implementing Regulations fails to address a number of key issues including the definition of professions in the training agreement, the procedure for the...

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