China: The Amended Workplace Safety Law Has Significant Implications for Employers
Posted on February 18, 2015 by Littler Mendelson
By Huan Xiong
On December 1, 2014, the amendments to the Workplace Safety Law (“Law”) of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) came into effect. The amended Law heightens the government’s regulation and control over workplace safety and aims to prevent and reduce workplace accidents. The amended Law is applicable to all businesses engaged in production and operational activities within Chinese territory and carries significant implications for employers with operations in that jurisdiction.
Below is a summary of the most important changes brought about by the amendment to the Workplace Safety Law with implications for employers:
Administrative Body or Personnel in Charge of Workplace Safety
The Law, originally enacted in 2002, required companies engaged in mining, construction, or the production, selling or storage of hazardous substances, regardless of their size, to establish an administrative body within the company or hire a full-time employee to manage and monitor workplace safety. The amendment extends this requirement to companies engaged in metal smelting and road transportation, also regardless of their size.
The 2002 Law also required production companies not engaged in the above-mentioned industries to establish an administrative body within the company or hire a full-time employee to manage and monitor workplace safety, if such company had 300 or more employees. Exempted from this rule were companies with fewer than 300 employees. Such companies were allowed to hire a part-time employee as workplace safety monitor or entrust the duty to engineering technicians equipped with relevant professional technical qualifications to provide such services.
The amended Law, however, removed the exemption and lowered the threshold: Such companies (i.e., production companies not engaged in the above-mentioned industries) with 100 or more employees must comply with this requirement. Those with fewer than 100 employees are allowed to hire either full-time or part-time personnel for these positions.
Further, the amended law prohibits companies from retaliating against the personnel in charge of managing workplace safety. Companies are, therefore, prohibited from terminating the employment or reducing the salary or benefits of the personnel appointed to manage and monitor workplace safety, when the adverse employment action is intended as retaliation for the lawful performance of their job duties. Under the law, companies engaged in mining, metal smelting, and the production, selling or storage of hazardous substances are required to inform PRC’s authorities of any appointment or dismissal of the company’s workplace safety management personnel.
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