Comments on: NPC: Official – China labor law criticism unfounded

By: Helen Wang

Helen Wang — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:22:42 +0000

Chris you are correct employment disputes are 99% of the time handled by the Labor Union representative within the FIE. It is very rare for such cases to go to civil court.

By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Chris Devonshire-Ellis — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:25:38 +0000

Woah Nick you’re putting me on the spot there ! Dan at China Law Blog does a good job, but he and his firm are not based in China, as far as I know they sub-contract their China work out to other firms China offices, so they can get things a bit second hand I guess. I suspect the comments he made about Chinese lawyers lining up to sue foreign businesses in China were probably made in the heat of the moment. Both myself and my colleague Richard Hoffmann, (who specialises in employment contract law) sit on the American Chamber of Commerce Beijing Legal Committee, and neither or us – nor any members of the committee as far as I am aware – see any significant legal threats to multinational investors in this regard. Employment disputes are settled by and large at the labor union level via mediation. You may see the odd individual employee in small businesses threaten to sue, but no, a “whole slew of lawsuits to be filed against foreign investors” is rather exaggerating the issue I feel. But at least Dan is passionate about his points, even if he gets a little excited at times, and his blog is entertaining. It’s a shame he’s not in China – that would be a blast.

By: Nick Jones

Nick Jones — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:09:18 +0000

This is what Dan and Steve at China Law Blog said on Labor Law: “CLB’s Steve Dickinson has been working with many foreign companies to get them ready for the new law, called the labor contract law (LCL) and he just wrote a column for China International Business magazine on the basics involved. The article is entitled, “Power to the People,” with the “people” being employees and Chinese lawyers, who are already salivating about suing foreign companies on this. And when I say salivating, I mean salivating. We have heard from Chinese lawyers who already have plaintiffs all lined up and ready to sue various foreign companies for when those foreign companies fail to comply. Expect a whole slew of lawsuits to be filed on January 1, 2009, by employees seeking double damages for the 12 months they just completed without a contract”.

You’re saying this is totally wrong and that the Labor Unions will mediate in all cases?

By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Chris Devonshire-Ellis — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:24:23 +0000

Hi Rich; Yes, and I think Sun Baoshu expressed his frustration with some of the media coverage yesterday. Sometimes it must seem a case of “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. They get hassled for exploitation of workers, and when they strengthen the Labor law to deal with abuse they get criticized for it. Those that are complaining of course when you examine it seem to have vested interests in doing do. The Labor law is OK in my book, our legal team have had a good look at it and it’s not the draconian legislation some people are suggesting. There are implications but they are not as serious as has been indicated elsewhere. The Implementing rules will be interesting to see how far off base some people have been on the subject. China huh ? Always a bun fight.

By: All Roads

All Roads — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:31:36 +0000

I have something coming out on this shortly, but I found a little story in FT.

Nike sees ‘gaps’ in China labour laws

It is good to see someone in the foreign community is taking a real look to see how the new laws compare to international standards.

Like I said in a previous post on Allroads, I would strongly warn anyone buying from companies that move because of the tighter regulatory environment. There is a reason why China is not begging them to stay.