China Employer Rules And Regulations To Consider When Doing Business In China

Many foreign employers wrongly suppose that whatever they use in their home country is good enough for their China employee manual. This is virtually never true as the reason for having employee manuals is so different as between China and Western countries. Western companies often learn too late about these differences when one of their employees leaves or is terminated.

The following are some common myths our China lawyers often hear about China employer rules and regulations:

Myth 1: It need not be in Chinese. Though having your rules and regulations entirely in English will not necessarily invalidate the entire document (this depends on where you are), it needs to be in Chinese so your employees can understand it. If you do not have a Chinese language version of your rules and regulations, you run the risk of a Chinese court finding it not binding on your employees because they could not understand it and you didn't bother explaining it to them. Also, the local labor authorities may require a Chinese translation for audit purposes and you don't want to be caught flat-footed when that happens. And whatever you do, do not just take your English language version and pay a translator to put it into Chinese. 

Myth 2: It need not be in English. You really should have an English translation done and make sure that too is good. You as the employer will need to refer to this document in making employee decisions (especially termination decisions). Unless all of your people who will be making these decisions are fluent in written Chinese, you need a well-written English version to serve as your roadmap on how to handle all sorts of decisions regarding your employees.

Myth 3: It need not be updated because it has a provision that says the outdated sections will automatically be replaced and superseded by then-current laws. Wrong. Both nationally and at the local level, China's employment laws are constantly changing. It therefore behooves you to do an annual internal audit of the key elements of your employer-employee situation and this yearly employer review should include a review and an updating of your rules and regulations. You could be exposed to huge risks if you have been relying on a section that is contrary to the law. More on this in Myth 5. We also fairly often see rules and regulations that made sense for a company that had employees in just one China city, but no longer do now that the company has employees in three cities.

Myth 4: Employers do not need to follow any procedures in implementing the rules and regulations. You must make your rules and regulations available to every employee so they have an opportunity to read it before signing off on it. And if there is a worker's union at your organization, you should hold meetings with them and obtain their comments and suggestions before implementing your rules and regulations.

Myth 5: By signing an acknowledgment of receipt, the employee agrees to everything in your rules and regulations, so it doesn't matter if it conflicts with the law. Not sure why, but our China lawyers have been hearing this myth more frequently of late and it too is just plan wrong. Totally wrong. Having a section in your rules and regulations that contravenes the law probably will not invalidate your entire document (though it conceivably could), but many China employment laws must be followed and cannot be contracted away. It does not matter that the employee gives his or her written consent, and it also does not matter that the employee acknowledged that he or she executed the written consent as a free and voluntary act.

All of the myth mentioned above can somewhat assist you when you doing business in China, especially during the recruitment process, check out Talent Spot to get more info