Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At the very least, and probably against your wishes, you should be provided with social
security insurance, which is paid in part by you and in part by contributions from your com-
pany. The insurance covers five mandatory areas—maternity, medical, unemployment, pen-
sion, and work-related injury—and possibly housing. This makes you 35-40 percent more
expensive than your gross payable income, and penalties can be imposed if your company
doesn't comply. Whether you plan to use the insurance (which, at the time of writing, was
not possible in the international hospitals and clinics) is irrelevant; it's compulsory. On the
positive side, it's a little like forced savings, and the unused portion of your contributions
should be returned to you when you permanently leave China.
Salaries in China, at least those in Chinese companies, are usually calculated for 13
months, with the 13th month being paid as a bonus at Chinese New Year. Confirm that
you're not excluded from the bonus when you examine your contract. Some companies
try to argue that foreigners don't receive the annual bonus, but this doesn't mean that your
salary should be effectively less because you receive only 12 payments. If you're the man-
ager of the company and decide to work with a 12-month system, you'll need to make it
apparently clear to local employees that the 13th month has been spread out over the year,
otherwise problems can arise when they suddenly feel you've shortchanged them at New
Year.
Despite the infinite unpaid extra hours that many companies seem to expect of their em-
ployees, legally they should be paying overtime. Cultural instincts are strong, however, and
few employees resist the pressure to work 10-hour days, even six days a week. If you find
yourself in this situation, you have the right to state your case and object. Unfortunately, it's
just not going to win you respect or opportunities for promotion.
Annual Leave
You might be in for a rude surprise when your get to the clause about annual leave in your
contract. For most Chinese, the majority of their vacation dates come as a total of 11 fixed
public holidays, with the major breaks at Chinese New Year and the National Day holiday
in the first week of October. What could be more unpleasant than millions of people having
their annual leave at exactly the same time as you? Though it sounds unfair, the government
argues that it's one way to make sure companies give their employees adequate leave.
On top of the public holiday days, workers also get a set number of personal annual
leave days. The legal minimum annual leave allowances are: zero days for the first year of
your contract, five days for the second to ninth years of work, 10 days for the 10th to 19th
years, and 15 days if you're still there at 20 years.
