Asia

China

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Employer of Record (EOR) in China

What you'll learn

  • Country Introduction
  • Tax Breakdown for Employers
  • Statutory Leave Laws
  • Minimum Wage and Working Hours
  • Termination Process
  • Additional Information
China Introduction

China is the world’s most populous country located in Southeast Asia. It spans 5 time zones and borders 14 countries, and has the world's largest economy by GDP. China is currently the world’s #1 manufacturer and exporter and has the fastest-growing major economy.

Paid Leave and Statutory Leave

Parental Leave

Pregnant employees in China are entitled to 98 days of paid maternity leave. The leave usually starts 15 days before the due date. The salary rate paid during this time will be equal to the average salary of all the female employees in the company, or 3 times the national minimum wage (whichever is the greater amount). Fathers are entitled to between 10-15 days of paid paternity leave, depending on the region. Social Security will reimburse the employer for wages equal to 3 times the minimum wage for mothers, and average local wage for fathers, and the employer will cover the rest.

Sick Leave

Sick leave in China usually depends on the employee’s length of service at the company. While there are regional variations, a common breakdown looks like this:

  • Less than 5 years = 3 months of sick leave
  • 5-10 years = 6 to 9 months of sick leave (depending on region)
  • 10-15 years = 12 to 18 months of sick leave (depending on region)
  • 15-20 years = 18 months of sick leave
  • 20+ years = 24 months of sick leave

The amount of pay that the employee receives during this period is determined in a similar way. when on sick leave are also determined by their length of service. In the case of sick leave of six months or under the calculations are as follows:

  • Less than 2 years = 60% of salary
  • 2-4 years = 70% of salary
  • 4-6 years = 80% of salary
  • 6-8 years = 90% of salary
  • 8+ years = 100% of salary

If the length of the sick leave reaches 6 months, the salary after that period will be paid at 40-60%.

Paid Leave

In China there are 11 national holidays, and most regions have their own additional holidays. Full-time employees also receive 5-15 days of paid time off each year that accrues monthly, depending on how long they’ve worked at the company:

  • Less than 1 year = No entitlement
  • 1-10 years = 5 days
  • 10-20 years = 10 days
  • 20+ years = 15 days

Employees may also be granted additional paid leave for bereavement and marriage.

Wage Requirements and Working Hours

The minimum wage in China is different for each region, but hovers around CNY 2,590 per month. Working hours are 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, with a maximum of 45 hours worked per week.

Any work past the standard weekly working hours is considered overtime and is paid at 150% of the regular salary (and 200% on weekends). Usually only one hour of overtime a day is permitted. While working on public holidays is uncommon in China, if an employee has to work on a public holiday the time is paid at 300% of the hourly rate.

Termination Process

Process

There is no at-will termination for employers outside the probation period, and any terminations must be for just cause. Just cause terminations include employee resignation, mutual agreement, employee misconduct or negligence, illegal activities, and a few more.

Notice Period

Typical notice periods in China for terminations that are not of just cause are 30 days, and employers can choose to give payment in lieu of notice.

Severance Pay

Severance pay for terminations depends on the length of employment at the company. It’s paid at the rate of 1 month's salary for each year at the company.

Additional Information

It’s customary to pay a 13th-month and sometimes also 14th-month salary in China, paid out during the time of the Lunar New Year or Spring Holiday. While it is not legally required, it will commonly be stipulated in the employment contract.

OVERVIEW
Language(s):
Mandarin, Cantonese, Hunanese, and more
Currency:
Chinese Yuan (CNY)
Capital City:
Beijing
Population:
1.4 Billion
Cost of Living Rank:
73rd
VAT (Valued Added Tax):
13%
Employer TaxES
39.9%
(estimated)

★  16% - Pension

★  12% - Housing Fund

★  9.8% - Medical Insurance

★  0.5% - Unemployment Insurance

★  0.6% - Work Injury Insurance

★  1% - Maternity Insurance

Simplified Global HR and Payroll.
Let’s work on it together.

We've made the process really simple
with only 3 steps.

1

Remote candidate

You've sourced a full-time employee or contractor located in a country where your company is not incorporated.

2

Cost Calculation

Pass us the details of your candidate and we will let you know exactly what it costs to employ your candidate in that country.

3

Onboarding & Admin

Sit back and relax as we onboard your new team member and take care of all the local compliances and admin work.

Same-day onboarding
Best Pricing
Available in 150+ countries
How Remofirst employs in China

It can be prohibitively expensive to establish an entity in every country you want to hire talent in, so Remofirst will hire and pay your employee on your behalf while you manage their daily duties. Remofirst will handle formal HR procedures and employment contracts that adhere to local laws, so that you can simply approve invoices via our platform. When you work with an Employer of Record (EOR) you can compliantly hire the best employees around the world.

How employees in China get paid
Your employee's hours, time off, holidays, bonuses, and commissions are automatically calculated into payroll. Remofirst will invoice you in either US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), British Pounds (GBP), Canadian Dollars (CAD), or Singapore Dollars (SGD) around the 15th of each month to make sure your employees in China are paid on time in Chinese Yuan (CNY). To make it even easier, you can summarize your entire global team's salaries to aggregate them into one payment (instead of many individual payments).
Full-time Employees vs Global Contractors

Unlike full-time employees, contractors work on projects with multiple companies at a given time and are technically self-employed. Full-time employees are solely focused on their employer and usually receive benefits (such as health insurance, equity or stock options, and time off) as an additional form of compensation. While it can be cheaper to work with international contractors instead of paying benefits to a full-time employee, you run the risk of misclassification. It's recommended to work with an EOR for contractor onboarding and payments, so you can know that your international contractors are paid compliantly and on time.

Dependable support for employees
Whenever the employee or employer has a question about benefits, Visas, or anything else related to international employment in China, they can use our platform's chat function to get answers from our team of experts. Every client of Remofirst also receives a dedicated account manager that will serve as a point of contact for global HR support.