Beijing Municipality, Provisions for Labour Contract

Promulgated: December 24 2001
Effective: February 1 2002
Applicability: The Provisions are applicable to all enterprises, family proprietors and private non-enterprise entities, as well as to government agencies, public institutions and social associations (collectively, employers) (Article 2).

Main contents: Employers shall enter into written labour contracts with their employees and the employment relationship begins from the date the employee is hired (Articles 8 and 11). A labour contract may set out, in addition to the required contents specified in the Provisions (Article 12), provisions regarding probation, training, confidentiality and additional benefits (Article 13). The term of a labour contract may be fixed, open-ended or subject to the completion of a task. If the employee is a national labour model, is employed for the first time after military service or has worked for the employer for over 10 years, he may request an open-ended contract and the employer is required to comply (Articles 14, 15 and 42). The permissible probation periods are specified and the maximum length is six months for a labour contract with a term of two or more years (Article 16). An employee with confidentiality obligations may be required to give no more than six month of notice for termination of contract (Article 18). Liquidated damages for early termination by the employee shall not exceed the employee's total wages paid in the 12 months prior to the termination (Article 19). A merger or division of the employer shall not affect the validity of the existing labour contracts and the successor employer shall continue to perform such contracts (Article 27). The Provisions also set out the circumstances in which an employee may or may not be dismissed or laid off (Articles 30 to 33).
Related legislation: PRC, Labour Law, Jul 5 1994, CLP 1994 No.7 p21
Repealed legislation: Beijing Municipality, Implementation of Labour Contract System Several Provisions, Feb 5 1995