Laws of the People's Republic of China

(Effective Date 1985.07.25)

   Article 1. These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China and the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone.

   Article 2. These Regulations apply to Sino-foreign joint ventures, co-operative enterprises and wholly foreign owned enterprises in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone (hereinafter referred to as enterprises).

   Article 3. The labour plan of the enterprises shall be filed with the labour management department of the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone (hereinafter referred to as the Development Zone) and brought into line with the labour plan of the Municipality of Tianjin.

   Article 4. In employing staff and workers, the enterprises shall implement the labour contract system.

   Article 5. The Development Zone Labour Service Company shall aid the enterprises in recruiting and training staff and workers, guide staff and workers in signing labour contracts with the enterprises, direct them in seeking employment, and collect, pay, and control social labour insurance funds.

   Article 6. The staff and workers of the enterprises have the right to establish trade unions in accordance with the law and to organise trade union activities. The enterprise shall support the work of the trade union and the trade union shall support the proper business activities of the enterprise.

   Article 7. The staff and workers to be employed by an enterprise may be recommended by the Labour Service Company, recruited by the Labour Service Company at the request of the enterprise or, after approval by the Administrative Commission of the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone (hereinafter referred to as the Development Zone Administrative Commission), recruited by the enterprise itself.

   Article 8. The staff and workers to be employed by the enterprise shall be 16 years of age or older with a minimum educational level equivalent to that of junior middle school.

   Article 9. The staff and workers to be employed by the enterprise shall be assessed, medically examined and accepted for employment in accordance with the principle of selecting the best qualified. They shall then sign labour contracts with the enterprise.

A labour contract may be signed collectively by the staff and workers with the enterprise or on an individual basis.

The labour contract shall include the following items: the employment, dismissal and resignation of the staff and workers; the term of contract and probation period; their production and work tasks; wages or salaries and awards and penalties; work schedules and holidays;labour protection, labour insurance and welfare benefits; and labour discipline and contract modifications. The contract shall not contain any provisions of a discriminatory nature concerning the staff and workers. The probation period shall not exceed six months.

The labour contract shall be examined and approved by the labour management department of the Development Zone.

   Article 10. With examination and approval by the Development Zone Administrative Commission, the enterprise may employ staff and workers from Hong Kong, Macao and abroad.

   Article 11. For hiring seasonal employees and those who are employed for less than one year, enterprises in the Development Zone shall go through procedures in accordance with Article 7 and 8, and shall refer to Article 9 of these Regulations.

   Article 12. Enterprises shall pay individual wages for each of the staff and workers they employ. The minimum level of wages or salary shall be stipulated by the Development Zone Administrative Commission. Wage levels shall be determined by the enterprise in accordance with work posts, skills and labour intensity. The wages shall be increased every year, according to levels of skills of the workers and the enterprise's profits. The percentage of increase per year shall be negotiated and decided by the enterprise and the trade union.

   Article 13. The enterprise shall pay the Development Zone Labour Service Company a social labour insurance fund every month. This fund, 25 per cent of the labour service fees paid by the enterprise in relation to its Chinese employees, shall be paid for each month before the fifth day of the following month. In case of failure to do so, a surcharge for overdue payment equal to 1 per cent of the payable amount shall be imposed for every day in arrears.

   Article 14. The procedures for the use and the scope of the social labour insurance fund shall be separately formulated by the Development Zone Administrative Commission.

   Article 15. The standards and types of wages, systems of bonuses and subsidies for staff and workers of the enterprise shall be decided upon by the enterprise itself, and filed with the labour management department of the Development Zone.

   Article 16. The work schedule of the staff and workers of the enterprise shall not exceed six days a week and eight hours a day. For work that has to be carried out continuously, the work time shall not exceed 48 hours per week for each employee. When employees are required to work overtime, the trade union of the enterprise shall be consulted for approval. For overtime work on the weekly day off or time in excess of eight hours, the overtime pay per day shall not be lower than that of the employee's standard daily wages. Overtime on official festivals or public holidays shall not be less than double the standard daily wage.

   Article 17. Staff and workers of the enterprise shall enjoy rest days, official holidays, and vacation periods in accordance with government regulations.

   Article 18. The enterprises must implement the rules and regulations of the People's Republic of China and the Tianjin Municipality concerning labour protection and ensure safe and civilized production. The Development Zone Administrative Commission and the relevant departments of the Municipality shall have the right to carry out inspection and supervision.

   Article 19. The enterprises shall implement special health protection for women workers in accordance with the regulations of the People's Republic of China on the protection of women workers.

   Article 20. In the event of staff and workers of the enterprise suffering from occupational diseases and work-related injuries, including those causing disability or death, the standards and procedures for their pensions shall be separately stipulated by the Development Zone Administrative Commission in accordance with the relevant regulations of the People's Republic of China.

   Article 21. The enterprises shall exercise management of staff and workers in accordance with the regulations stipulated in the contract and the business requirements of the enterprise.

In accordance with the seriousness of the case, penalties and even discharge may be imposed by the enterprise on staff and workers who violate the rules and regulations of the enterprise and thereby cause harmful consequences. Before discharging staff and workers the enterprise shall consult the trade union of the enterprise for its opinion and decisions shall be recorded with the Development Zone labour management department.

If the trade union regards the sanctions or discharges imposed on staff and workers as inappropriate, it has the right to raise an objection and send representatives to negotiate solutions with the enterprise. In the event that the problem cannot be solved through negotiation, it shall be handled in accordance with the stipulations of Article 24 of these Regulations.

   Article 22. An enterprise may dismiss staff and workers who become superfluous as a result of changes in production and technical conditions if, after training, they cannot meet its requirements and are not suitable for transfer to other work. Decisions regarding the dismissal of staff and workers shall be reported to the labour management department of the Development Zone for recording.

Staff and workers who are injured at work or undergo treatment for occupational diseases, and women workers over six months' pregnant or on maternity leave shall not be discharged.

The enterprise shall pay compensation to dismissed staff and workers according to the period of time for which they have worked in the enterprise. Specific stipulations shall be formulated separately by the Development Zone Administrative Commission.

   Article 23. Staff and workers may submit their resignations to the enterprise in accordance with the regulations stipulated in the contract. The resignations shall be submitted to the enterprise one month in advance and the enterprise should permit such resignations.

Those staff and workers who have received more than three months' training provided by the enterprise shall compensate the enterprise for the expenses incurred for their training should they wish to resign within one year of completing such training or resign without permission. The compensation amount shall be calculated according to the expenses spent on them during training. Specific stipulations shall be formulated separately by the Development Zone Administrative Commission.

   Article 24. Should labour disputes arise within the Development Zone, the labour management department of the Development Zone may be asked to mediate or a suit may be filed in the People's Court.

   Article 25. Matters such as wages, awards and penalties, welfare and social labour insurance, and dismissal and resignation of staff and workers from Hong Kong, Macao and abroad employed by the enterprise shall be specified in the employment contracts and filed with the Development Zone Administrative Commission.

   Article 26. In the event of staff and workers being employed by the enterprise from domestic enterprises outside the Development Zone, their wage standards, types of wages, measures for awards and penalties, welfare and matters concerning social labour insurance and dismissal shall be discussed jointly by the employing enterprise, the enterprises where they originally worked and the Labour Service Company. Such matters shall be stipulated in the labour contract and filed with the labour management department of the Development Zone.

   Article 27. These Regulations shall come into force on the day of promulgation.