Shenzhen City, Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Regulations on the Promotion of Harmonious Employment Relationships
深圳市深圳经济特区和谐劳动关系促进条例
November 10, 2008 | BY
clpstaff &clp articles &Enterprises owing workers wages may be ordered to stop operations.
Promulgated: October 6 2008
Effective: November 1 2008
Applicability: The Regulations apply to enterprises, family proprietors, private non-enterprise work units and other such organisations (Employers), state authorities, public institutions and social organisations in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ), and workers who establish employment relationships with them.
The term “employment relationships” refers to the rights and obligations arising from the recruitment of workers by an employer as its employees, and the provision of labour by the workers under the management of the employer for remuneration paid by the employer (Article 2).
Main Contents: Where an employment contract has been concluded between an employer and a worker prior to the commencement of use of the worker, the worker may notify the employer of the termination of the contract in advance prior to the commencement of work (Article 17). Where the employment contract between an employer and the worker is terminated or ends, and a contract is concluded anew within six months' time, the years of service of the worker at the work unit shall be calculated continuously, except where the employment contract was terminated by the employer due to a violation of Article 39 of the PRC Employment Contract Law by the worker (Article 24).
Employers that have a severe contravention of employment laws and regulations such as owing of wages in bad faith, flee after owing wages, major work safety accidents and occupational disease hazards shall not be permitted to contract for government investment projects, participate in government procurement, and may not be entitled to the preferential policies in the city. The preferential policies that it currently benefits from shall be ceased. Its legal representative or person in charge shall not be permitted to register any new enterprise in the SEZ in five years (Article 39).
When applying for a construction work permit, a project owner shall deposit a certain percentage of the construction fees it pays the construction work unit in advance into a dedicated bank account as a guarantee for wage payment. The guarantee for wage payment shall be used for paying the wages of workers that are owed by the construction work unit (Article 40).
After an employer has been declared bankrupt, the property in bankruptcy, except for paying the bankruptcy expenses and debts of common interest, shall be paid on a priority basis for the medical fees for work-related injuries and the labour compensation for the three months before the declaration of the employer's bankruptcy of workers whose monthly wage is below the average monthly wage of employed workers of the city in the preceding year. Rights holders that enjoy security rights over specific property among the remaining property in bankruptcy shall have a preemptive right to obtain payment from such specific property in accordance with the law (Article 51).
Where a collective work stoppage, work-to-rule or lockout happens to employers such as water, electricity and gas supply enterprises and public transport enterprises due to a labour dispute, the city or county government may issue an order to request for the cessation of the employer's or worker's act and for the resumption to normal order according to the actual circumstances. The 30 days after the issue of the said order shall be the cooling-off period, during which both the employer and workers may not take actions to aggravate differences. Labour administrative department, labour union and the relevant industry association shall continue to organise negotiation and mediation within this period to facilitate the reaching of a settlement between the two sides (Article 53).
Where an employer fails to pay the labour compensation in full, the labour administrative department may order a cessation of production or business in any of the following circumstances:
(1) the employer has owed labour compensation to at least 30% of the total workers;
(2) the amount of labour compensation owed exceeds the total monthly wages of all the workers; or
(3) the employer has owed labour compensation for three consecutive months or more (Article 60).
Related Legislation: PRC Labour Law, Jul 5 1994, CLP 1994 No.7 p.21; PRC Employment Contract Law, Jun 29 2007, CLP 2007 No.6 p.30; PRC Law on the Mediation and Arbitration of Employment Disputes, Dec 29 2007, CLP 2008 No.4 p.34; and Implementing Regulations for the PRC Employment Contract Law, Sept 18 2008, CLP 2008 No.8 p.65
clp reference:2400/08.10.06/SZpromulgated:2008-10-06effective:2008-11-01This premium content is reserved for
China Law & Practice Subscribers.
A Premium Subscription Provides:
- A database of over 3,000 essential documents including key PRC legislation translated into English
- A choice of newsletters to alert you to changes affecting your business including sector specific updates
- Premium access to the mobile optimized site for timely analysis that guides you through China's ever-changing business environment
Already a subscriber? Log In Now