Labor and Employment Law

The term “Mainland China” (with an upper-case “M”) is a political rather than geographic designation. It refers to the territory of China minus Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau, which issue their own currencies and enforce their borders with immigration barriers requiring document inspection. If your company seeks to hire employees from these regions to work...

If your company is involved in an industry where it is likely that at least one of your employees is likely to invent something in the course of his duties or using company resources, you need to remember that the treatment of employee inventions works differently than it probably does in your home jurisdiction. Naturally,...

Contrary to the popular conception, a FESCO (Foreign Enterprise Service Corporation) is not a single, monolithic entity. Rather, it is a catch-all term for many different Chinese companies that provide similar services. The main reason for the popularity of FESCOs is that to hire any employee (whether foreign or local), Chinese law requires the employer...

The labor law of the PRC is based primarily on the PRC Labor Law and the PRC Labor Contract Law. Overall, Chinese labor law is quite employee-friendly, especially compared to countries such as the United States, and it contains some very specific principles on overtime pay. This article will briefly describe the basic principles as well as commonly-used...

Conducting a background check on a job applicant is a routine activity all over the world, although far too many employers ignore this critical step in the hiring process. The information sought typically includes academic background, employment history, and criminal record. Conducting background checks in China, however, involves special considerations relating to the sourcing of...

As recently as the 1990s when investment in China was used primarily as a means of exploiting cheap labor resources, skepticism abounded as to whether China itself would ever become a consistently profitable market for Western companies. China’s consumption market has exploded since then, however, and this new prosperity has fueled a high demand for...

Many countries have governmental occupational health and safety standards to protect workers on the job.  In the United States, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States Department of Labor is responsible for regulating the workplace conditions and safety. OSHA was created in the early 1970’s, the agency is responsible for...