10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10786
The Chinese government has provided special protection for workers who are, or might be, affected by the coronavirus, or who are in close contact with coronavirus patients, and are thus under mandatory quarantine. It has also required employers to continue paying employees when enterprises suspend production. To ensure unemployed workers’ a basic living, the government has adjusted the unemployment insurance by simplifying the application process and expanding its coverage to include more unemployed workers for a longer period. To support affected employers and to save jobs, the government has reduced or deferred employers’ payment of social insurance contributions. Migrant workers, the most affected group, have received special financial and employment support as well.
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Italian Labour Law e-Journal
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COVID-19 and Labour Law: China
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National Reports
2020-04-15
2020-04-14
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Wenwen Ding
2020/04/15
10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10786
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COVID-19 and Labour Law: China
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COVID-19 and Labour Law: China                                                         Italian Labour Law e-Journal
Wenwen Ding                                                                           Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
wd3ga@virginia.edu                                                      Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                                    ISSN 1561-8048
                                                                     https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10786




                      COVID-19 and Labour Law: China
                             Wenwen Ding *

                                                     Abstract
     The Chinese government has required employers to make payments to employees who are
     unable to attend work due to government-imposed mandatory measures. It has also provided
     financial support to unemployed workers through unemployment insurance. To save jobs, the
     government has reduced employers’ social insurance contributions and taxes. Migrant workers,
     the most affected group, have also received special financial and employment support.
     Keywords: Covid-19; Labour Law; Unemployment benefits; Health and safety; Remote work;
     Migrant workers.




    Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, in early 2020, the Chinese
 government has not declared an official national health emergency. However, a de facto state
 of emergency exists, as both the central and local governments have issued special decrees
 in response to the spread of the coronavirus. They can legally do so under the Law on
 Emergency Responses, which gives central and local governments the authority to take
 measures to respond to an epidemic outbreak.
    Since mid-January 2020, Chinese authorities have introduced unprecedented measures
 to contain the virus. These measures have severely affected employment relations and
 working conditions, and include lockdowns, travel restrictions, mandatory quarantines,
 social distancing, public holiday extensions, the interruption of business operations, and the
 closing of factories and schools.
    Particularly, the following issues and/or governmental counteracting measures have
 emerged:
 1. Business operations are severely interrupted by the public holiday extension and
     delaying the resumption of business orders. In order to protect workers, the Chinese
     government has offered several responsive measures. First, it required employers to pay
     employees their regular level of wages, even when these workers are unable to work
     due to mandatory quarantine or other government-imposed mandatory measures. But
     the government also stated that if enterprises experience operational difficulties, they
     can negotiate with employees to cut wages. Second, the government is providing
     several kinds of income support for temporarily unemployed persons. The most
     important of these is unemployment insurance payments. These apply to unemployed

 *
     Visiting Scholar, University of Virginia Law School; S.J.D.’19, University of Virginia Law School.
 Wenwen Ding                                                            Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                       Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                          Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                            Section: National Reports




   workers who do not meet the conditions for unemployment insurance or who have
   already received unemployment insurance benefits but are still unemployed, all of
   whom receive six months’ worth of unemployment insurance benefits, although the
   benefit level is lower than the regular unemployment insurance benefit. The
   government is also providing temporary assistance for needy families. Some
   government departments are providing direct financial support. Third, the government
   has taken some measures to promote employment and to save jobs. For instance, many
   local governments have allowed enterprises to postpone the payment of social
   insurance contributions and taxes. Some provinces have exempted small, medium, and
   micro-sized enterprises from paying social insurance contributions for up to five
   months.
2. Parents have faced increased caregiving duties due to school and daycare closures.
   There are currently no national measures addressing this issue. In fact, even before the
   virus outbreak, there was no parental leave nor any other measures to address the needs
   of those with caregiving duties in China. But several local governments have allowed
   one parent per family to enjoy paid parental leave during the pandemic outbreak
   period.
3. The spread of the Covid-19 disease itself has increased risks for workers’ health and
   safety. In order to prevent the risk of infection, the government has required social
   distancing and mandatory quarantine in certain areas. Workplaces have implemented
   various measures, including remote work, flexible working hours, and a rotation
   working system. The national health insurance has started to reimburse online
   consultations for chronic and common diseases to reduce the risks of spreading the
   virus.
4. The outbreak of the virus has affected rural migrant workers, who account for one-
   third of China’s labour force, the most severely. These are workers who have left rural
   areas to work in urban ones. Due to their lack of urban household registration, they
   work primarily in the informal sectors and do not have access to the same social
   welfare benefits (such as unemployment insurance) as workers with registrations in
   urban areas. The virus outbreak started when the majority of migrant workers were
   back in their rural home to celebrate the Chinese New Year holiday. Because of
   lockdown and travel restrictions, these workers have been locked in their rural home
   and cannot travel back to urban areas to find jobs. In addition, the industries in which
   these workers usually work – including manufacturing industry, export-oriented
   industry, restaurants, hotels, and tourism – are those that have been hardest hit by the
   spread of COVID-19. The government has taken specific actions in order to promote
   these workers’ employment. It has provided financial support to enterprises that can
   hire certain number of migrant workers; has facilitated connections between workers
   who need jobs and enterprises that need workers; and enhanced infrastructure building
   in rural areas to provide job opportunities for migrant workers.

  The Social Partners have not played any role in the design of these measures nor has the
government has not invited any Social Partners to participate in the legislative process. But

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10786                                                         2
 Wenwen Ding                                                            Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                       Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                          Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                            Section: National Reports




the government has encouraged employers facing operational difficulties to negotiate with
employees about issues like adjusting wages and cutting working hours. In support of this,
the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) — the only trade union recognized by
the Chinese Communist Party — issued a “Notice,” and the Department of Human
Resources and Social Security, the ACFTU and the China Enterprise Confederation /
China Entrepreneurs Association jointly issued an “Opinion,” both of which
recommended that employers and unions negotiate wages, working hours, rest days,
occupational safety and health, and other working conditions. In practice, some employers
and unions conducted collective consultations. However, whether these were genuine
collective consultations is questionable, as unions in China are not independent so are not
an effective voice for Chinese workers. Overall, Social Partners play a very limited, if any,
role in addressing the impact of COVID-19.




Copyright © 2020 Wenwen Ding. This article is released under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License




https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10786                                                         3
