I am conducting a research on a client’s behalf regarding prohibitions of discrimination in work place. The client thinks he experiences unfair treat in his work in China and want to seek legal weapons against his employer.
For many foreign employees in China, I think this might be a common issue. Discrimination in work place is paid great attention to and specified clearly in laws and regulations or cases in US, but in China, unfortunately, this issue has not been taken seriously.
Upon my research, there are only some general rules on this issue, which are hard to apply in practice. The relevant articles in Employment Promotion Law are as follow:
Article 3
Workers shall be entitled by law to enjoy the right to equal employment and to seek their own employment.
No worker seeking employment shall suffer discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, race, gender or religious belief.
Article 26
Employment units, in recruiting new employees, and employment agencies, in arranging job placements, shall provide workers with equal employment opportunities and equitable conditions of employment, and shall avoid discriminatory employment practices.
Article 27
The state shall safeguard the equality of women with men in their enjoyment of labor rights.
With the exception of certain types of work or positions designated by the state as unsuitable for women, no employment unit, when recruiting new employees, shall refuse to recruit women by reason of gender or impose higher employment criteria for women.
No employment unit, when recruiting a female employee, shall include a clause in the employment contract imposing marriage or childbirth restrictions on the employee.
Article 28
Workers of all ethnic groups shall be entitled to equal labor rights.
Employment units, when recruiting new employees, shall treat ethnic minority workers appropriately in accordance with the law.
Article 29
The state shall safeguard the labor rights of handicapped persons.
The people’s governments at all levels shall organize and coordinate the employment of handicapped persons and create favorable employment conditions for such persons.
No employment unit, when recruiting employees, shall discriminate against handicapped persons.
Article 30
No employment unit, when recruiting employees, shall refuse to employ a job candidate on the basis that he/she is a carrier of any infectious pathogen. However, no suspected carrier of any infectious pathogen the likely existence of which has been proven by a medical examination shall be permitted to enter into any type of employment prone to facilitate the spread of infectious diseases and therefore forbidden by any law, administrative regulations or the Public Health Administrative Department of the State Council before he/she is cured or eliminates the suspicion that he/she carries the infectious pathogen in question.
Article 31
Rural workers who move to urban areas to seek employment shall enjoy equal labor rights to urban workers and shall not be subjected to discriminatory restrictions.
Article 62
In the event of any employment discrimination in violation of the provisions of this Law, the relevant worker(s) shall be entitled to initiate legal proceedings in the peoples’ court.
If you read above articles, you will know how weak and limited the weapons are. The scope of protection is narrow and the method of seeking protection is not applicable.
So, if you want to protect you from the discrimination in work place, the best way is to sign a fair employment contract. The contract is more reliable and efficient to protect you.
How to confirm the contract is fair, you should find a lawyer.