Employment
Written contracts compulsory, with double wages as the sanction
The Labour Contract Law requires a written contract within one month of starting work. Failure obliges the employer to pay double wages, and after a year without one the employee is treated as having an open-ended contract.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Labour disputes must go to labour arbitration committees before a court will hear them.
- Deadline — Written contract within one month of the start of work
- Deadline — Labour arbitration claim within one year of the dispute arising
Governing law
- Labour Contract Law of the PRC2008, amended 2012
- Labour Law of the PRC1995
- Social Insurance Law2011
In practice
After two consecutive fixed terms, or ten years of service, an employee is generally entitled to an open-ended contract. Statutory severance is one month's pay per year of service, capped at three times the local average wage for high earners. The standard week is 40 hours, and overtime is capped at 36 hours a month, though compliance in practice varies. Social insurance contributions are mandatory and locally administered, which makes cross-city transfers administratively awkward.