Grace Yang, Author at Harris Bricken

Grace Yang

Xi (Grace) focuses on international business and China law. She is our lead attorney on China labor and employment law and recently authored a book entitled the China Employment Law Guide. Xi (Grace) is admitted to practice law in Washington state and New York.

China Employee Non-Competes: Do Not Try This at Home

Many American companies (at least outside California where employee non-competes are generally considered invalid) love non- competes and they use them as a matter of course with most (sometimes all) their employees. Generally, a non-compete agreement or a non-compete provision in an employee contract provides that the employee cannot work for one of the employer’s

China Vacation Pay: How not to get Sued

Foreign company employers in China constantly get sued over employee vacation days. The very short version of the general rule regarding vacation days in China is that any employee who works continuously for a year is legally entitled to annual paid leave (a/k/a paid vacation days). This is not news to China-based foreign employers as

Understanding China Employment Laws and Employees

China is not an employment-at-will jurisdiction and terminating China employees is nearly always difficult. To make things even more challenging, many foreign companies doing business in China manage their China affairs from afar. To prevent employment (and especially termination)-related problems, you need enforceable employment contracts and employer rules and regulations, and a good understanding of

Check Your China Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies NOW

On January 1, 2021, China’s long-awaited Civil Code (“the Civil Code”) took effect. It not only codifies the fundamental rules of law on civil and commercial matters but also strengthens the protection of citizens’ personal rights such as the rights of privacy and protection of personal information. Having superseded the General Provisions of the PRC

China Employee Non-Compete Agreements and Their Appropriate Geographic Scope

When drafting China employee agreements, I often have to deal with the issue of non-compete provisions. One of the recurring non-compete issues is the geographic scope appropriate for the employee. The general rule for China on this is quite simple: China will enforce a “reasonable” geographic scope. But what does that even mean? The analysis

China Employee Non-Compete Agreements: The Price You’ll Pay

A Non-Compete Agreement is a contract where one party agrees not to compete with the other. These agreements reduce the likelihood of someone using information you provide them to compete against you. Non-compete agreements are fairly common between Western companies and their more important employees and it is common for those Western companies to want

China Employer Audits and Signed Employment Agreements

No foreign employer is too small for China’s employment law regulators and in some respects the smaller you are, the greater your risks. I say this because when a company with 5,000 employees has a problem with five employees, it’s not that big a deal, but when a five-employee company has a problem with two

China employee termination because of the economy

China Employee Terminations when Economic Circumstances Change

Terminating a China-based employee usually requires good cause. A serious breach of employer rules and regulations can be a basis for an employer’s unilateral termination of an employee, but China employers have other options as well. A China-based employer may terminate an employment contract if the economic circumstances which formed the basis for the parties signing the

How to Whip Your China Employee Handbook into Shape

If it has been a while (say over a year or longer) since you reviewed and updated your China employer rules and regulations, you should get on it now. Creating employer rules and regulations (a/k/a an employee handbook) takes a fair amount of hard work, but once you have a well-written handbook, updating it should

How to Avoid China Employment Law Problems: Employer Audits

I am always writing how it has become more important than ever for foreign companies in China to have China-centric employment contracts and employer rules and regulations (aka employee handbook). But to stay on the right side of China’s toughened employment enforcement and to avoid costly disputes with your employees, you need more. You need