On 18 September 2008, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) released the PRC Labour Contract Law Implementation Rules. Following the publication of a draft version in July, there has been widespread speculation that these Rules might be used to address what PRC employers have perceived as excesses in the ‘employee-friendly’ regime recently introduced by the Labour Contract Law.

 

 In fact, the Implementation Rules’ main implication is to clarify certain ambiguities arising from the drafting of the Labour Contract Law (see below). There has been no liberalisation of the rules on the termination of employment by employers, nor has any flexibility been introduced in the treatment of senior managers or other high-income employees. The message is that, for now, the PRC government is comfortable with the general approach to labour regulation under the Labour Contract Law.

Source: www.freshfields.com