Foreign companies doing business in China fairly often ask our China employment lawyers whether they can legally hire someone who has passed the legal retirement age. The short answer is that doing so is legal, but somewhat complicated. Consider this hypothetical. Employer employs Employee (male) for several years. Employee turns 60, the statutory retirement age,
Our China employment lawyers often get the following question from both potential and current clients: We have an employee who did something clearly wrong. However the conduct in question is not directly addressed in either his employment contract nor in our employer rules and regulations. Given how wrong his conduct is though, can we terminate him
If you have employees in China, you must have a written employment contract with each and every one of your employees. Employing anyone (Chinese citizen or expat) in China without a current, enforceable, China-centric employment contract puts you at massive risk for financial penalties and worse. Late last month, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and
We Americans do not like foreign governments or their agents meddling in our domestic affairs, whether it is China, Russia, Iran, Syria, or some less reprehensible regime. We do not even like friendly foreign governments meddling in our affairs. I am not talking about traditional CIA/007 spies or agents who operate in the shadows, mainly
Since October 6, 2018, one of our recurring themes has been that China has become far more difficult for foreign companies. It is what we have been calling the New Normal. This New Normal extends to all foreign companies that do business in or with China, but it has hit U.S. and Canadian companies particularly
The PRC National People’s Congress on October 26 enacted the long awaited Encryption Law (密码法）, which will come into effect on January 1, 2020. The official text of the law can be found here and an English language summary can be found here: The Law is another piece of the comprehensive cybersecurity system China is rolling
Pull out and look at your contract with your Chinese counter-party. Does it have a force majeure clause? If it does not, put it away and count yourself lucky. If it has a force majeure clause, pour gasoline or lighter fluid or nail polish all over it and light it. JUST KIDDING. Well only sort
You Need an NNN Agreement for China IP Protection Relying on a standard Western-style NDA to protect your IP from China sets you up for IP theft because NDAs have critical limitations that render them ineffective for China. You need an NNN agreement tailored specifically for China. This post explains what an NNN agreement is,
Contents of this Article: The Situation: Foreigners at Risk in China The Inconsistency of Chinese Law and Punishment Important Points of Chinese Criminal Law The Risks of Working and Living in China The Increasing Risk of Doing Business in China Stay Within Chinese Law How Can You Protect Yourself and Your Company A NOT New
Employee terminations in China are almost never easy and employer-initiated unilateral terminations are exponentially more difficult. Foreign companies terminating their employees in China can and often do get tripped up when they attempt unilateral employee terminations. Consider this hypothetical. Employee is a regular, full-time employee of Employer. Employer and Employee executed a few fixed-term employment
