What are the leave policies in China?

INTRODUCTION

The paid leave granted to workers by law in China mainly includes: statutory holidays or commemorative days, paid annual leave, marriage leave, maternity leave, birth control surgery leave, miscarriage leave, maternity examination leave, maternity care leave (for men), breastfeeding leave, work injury leave (leave without pay), sick leave, parental leave, and care leave for families with one child.

I. Public Holidays for all citizens is 11 days

New Year's Day;	1 day
Spring Festival; (Luna Calendar)	3 days
Qingming Festival	1 day
Labour Day	1 day
Dragon Boat Festival	1 day
Mid-Autumn Festival	1 day
National Day	3 days

for more specific dates of Public Holiday in 2024, please click →Bank Holidays & Horizons Payroll Calendar - China

II. The holidays on which some citizens take holidays are:

Women's Day (8 March),	a half-day holiday for women;
Youth Day (4 May)	a half-day holiday for young people over 14 years of age;
Children's Day (1 June)	a one-day holiday for children and adolescents under 14 years of age
the anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (1 August)	a half-day holiday for active-duty military personnel.

III. Paid Annual Leaves PAL

i. Statutory Entitlement (Minimum)

Employee with total experience less than 10 years	5 days
Employee with total experience more than 10 years but less than 20 years	10 days
Employee with total experience, more than 20 years	15 days

ii. Carryover & Encashment

Primary responsibility of PAL Arrangement: by Employer. ( note: Employer shall arrange the annual leave for the employee in accordance with the specific circumstances of production and work and taking into account the employee's own wishes, but in principle, the specific arrangements for annual leave with pay shall be finally decided by the employee)
Employer shall do its best to ensure all annual leave days are taken during the year
In the event Employer was not able to accept all annual leave requests by employee, untaken leave can be accrued and carried over to next year
In the event employer is never able to grant annual leave due to work needs, employer shall pay 300% of the # of leave days to the employee.

iii. PAL Entitlement Prorata for incomplete calendar year worked

· STATUTORY way for prorata

= Round down(X/365*days entitled for full year,0）

X=Valid days of employment in the calendar year

III. Sick Leaves

Common Practice：5-8 working days at full-paid (Highly Recommended)
Statutory Minimum: specific days but depending on documented medical prescription by general hospitals at 60% - 100% pay depending on the Seniority, but it must be higher than 80% of minimum salary announced by the municipality.

IV. Other Leaves

There are also specific rules for some of the holidays that vary from region to region across the country

Wedding leave	3 - 30 consecutive calendar days depending on work locations
Maternity leave	98 - 158 consecutive calendar days depending on maternity situations and work locations
Miscarriage leave	20-98 consecutive calendar days, depending on maternity situations
Bereavement leave	1-3 consecutive calendar days
Breastfeeding leave	1 hour per infants per working days until 1-year-old
Parental leave（3- yrs old kid)	5-15 working days depends on work locations
Elder Nursing leave	5-15 working days depends on work locations

In this article...