Special provisions on labor protection for female employees

2012-4-28 15:19 Source: Legal Education Network [Big Medium Small] [I want to correct errors]

Issuing Units: The State Council

Document number: Order No. 619

Release date: 2012-4-28

Effective Date: April 28, 2012

The "Special Provisions on Labor Protection of Female Employees" was adopted at the 200th executive meeting of the State Council on April 18, 2012, and is hereby promulgated to take effect on the date of promulgation.

General Manager Wen Jiabao

April 28, 2012

Special provisions on labor protection for female employees

Article 1: These Provisions are formulated so as to reduce and resolve the special difficulties caused by female employees' physical characteristics during labor, and to protect the health of female employees.

Article 2: These Provisions apply to state organs, enterprises, public institutions, social groups, individual economic organizations, other social organizations, and other social organizations within the territory of the People's Republic of China, as well as their female employees.

Article 3: Employers shall strengthen labor protections for female employees, employ measures to improve labor safety and health conditions for female employees, and conduct training on labor safety and health for female employees.

Article 4: Employers shall comply with the provisions on the scope of work that female employees are prohibited from engaging in. Employers shall inform female employees in writing of the positions that fall within the scope of work that are prohibited for female employees.

The scope of work that female employees are prohibited from engaging in is listed in the appendix to these Provisions. The State Council's production safety supervision and management department, in conjunction with the State Council's administrative department for human resources and social security and the State Council's administrative department for health, is to adjust the scope of work that female employees are prohibited from engaging in on the basis of economic and social development.

Article 5: Employers must not reduce the wages of female employees, dismiss them, or terminate their labor or employment contracts because of their pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

Article 6: Where female employees are unable to adapt to their original work during pregnancy, the employer shall, on the basis of the medical establishment's certificate, reduce the amount of work or arrange other work that can be adapted.

For female employees who are more than 7 months pregnant, the employer shall not extend the working hours or arrange night shifts, and shall arrange a certain amount of rest time during the working hours.

Pregnant female employees undergo prenatal check-ups during working hours, and the time required is included in the working hours.

Article 7: Female employees are entitled to 98 days of maternity leave, of which 15 days may be taken before giving birth, 15 days of maternity leave shall be added in case of difficult birth, and 15 days of maternity leave shall be added for each additional child born in case of multiple births.

Female employees are entitled to 15 days of maternity leave if they have a miscarriage before four months of pregnancy, and 42 days of maternity leave if they have a miscarriage after four months of pregnancy.

Article 8: Maternity allowances for female employees during maternity leave shall be paid by the maternity insurance fund in accordance with the standard of the average monthly wage of the employees of the employer in the previous year for those who have already participated in maternity insurance, and shall be paid by the employer in accordance with the standard of the salary of female employees before maternity leave for those who have not participated in maternity insurance.

The medical expenses for childbirth or miscarriage of female employees shall be paid by the maternity insurance fund in accordance with the items and standards stipulated in the maternity insurance, and shall be paid by the employer for those who have not participated in the maternity insurance.

Article 9: Employers must not extend working hours or arrange night shifts for female employees who are nursing infants under the age of 1.

Employers shall arrange one hour of breastfeeding time for lactating female employees during their working hours each day, and if a female employee gives birth to multiple births, one hour of breastfeeding time shall be added to each additional infant breastfeeding.

Article 10: Employers with a relatively large number of female employees shall, on the basis of the needs of female employees, establish facilities such as health rooms, rest rooms for pregnant women, and nursing rooms for female employees, to properly resolve female employees' difficulties in physical hygiene and breastfeeding.

Article 11: In the workplace, employers shall prevent and stop sexual harassment of female employees.

Article 12 The administrative departments of human resources and social security and the departments for the supervision and administration of production safety of the people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for supervising and inspecting the employer's compliance with these provisions in accordance with their respective duties.

Trade unions and women's organizations are to supervise employers' compliance with these Provisions in accordance with law.

Article 13: Where an employer violates the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 6, paragraph 7, or paragraph 1 of article 9 of these Provisions, the administrative department for human resources and social security of the people's government at the county level or above is to order corrections to be made within a set period of time, and impose a fine in accordance with the standard of between 1,000 and 5,000 RMB per female employee who has been violated.

Where an employer violates the provisions of Articles 1 and 2 of the Appendix to these Provisions, the production safety supervision and management department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order it to make corrections within a set period of time, and impose a fine in accordance with the standard of between 1,000 and 5,000 RMB per female employee who has been violated. If an employer violates the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 of the Appendix to these Regulations, the production safety supervision and management department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order it to rectify the situation within a specified period of time and impose a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 300,000 yuan;

Article 14: Where an employer violates these Provisions and infringes upon the lawful rights and interests of female employees, the female employee may make a complaint, report, or appeal in accordance with law, and apply to a labor and personnel dispute mediation and arbitration institution for mediation and arbitration in accordance with law, and if they are not satisfied with the arbitral award, they shall file a lawsuit in the people's court in accordance with law.

Article 15: Where an employer violates these Provisions by infringing upon the lawful rights and interests of female employees, causing harm to female employees, compensation shall be given in accordance with law;

Article 16: These Provisions shall come into force on the date of promulgation. On July 21, 1988, the State Council promulgated the Provisions on the Labor Protection of Female Employees, which was repealed at the same time.

Appendix:

The scope of work that female employees are prohibited from engaging in

1. Scope of work that female employees are prohibited from engaging in:

(1) Underground mine operations;

(2) Operations of the fourth level of physical labor intensity specified in the manual labor intensity grading standards;

(3) Operations with more than 6 loads per hour and each load exceeding 20 kg, or intermittent loads with loads exceeding 25 kg each time.

2. Scope of work that female employees are prohibited from engaging in during menstruation:

(1) The second, third, and fourth levels of cold water operations specified in the classification standards for cold water operations;

(2) The second, third, and fourth levels of low-temperature operations specified in the low-temperature operation classification standards;

(3) Operations of the third and fourth levels of physical labor intensity specified in the manual labor intensity grading standards;

(4) The third and fourth levels of high-altitude operations specified in the grading standards for high-altitude operations.

3. The scope of work that female employees are prohibited from engaging in during pregnancy:

(1) Operations where the concentration of toxic substances such as lead and its compounds, mercury and its compounds, benzene, cadmium, beryllium, arsenic, cyanide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon disulfide, chlorine, caprolactam, chloroprene, vinyl chloride, ethylene oxide, aniline, formaldehyde and other toxic substances in the air exceeds the national occupational health standards;

(2) Engaging in the production of anticancer drugs, diethylstilbestrol, exposure to anesthetic gases, etc.;

(3) The operation of radioactive materials from unsealed sources, and the emergency response to nuclear accidents and radiation accidents;

(D) work at height as provided for in the grading standards for work at height;

(5) Cold-water operations specified in the classification standards for cold-water operations;

(6) Low-temperature operations specified in the classification standards for low-temperature operations;

(7) The third and fourth level of operation specified in the classification standards for high-temperature work;

(8) The third and fourth level operations specified in the noise operation classification standards;

(9) Operations of the third and fourth levels of physical labor intensity specified in the manual labor intensity grading standards;

(10) Operations in confined spaces, high-pressure chambers, or diving operations, operations accompanied by strong vibration, or operations that require frequent bending, climbing, or squatting.

4. Scope of work that female employees are prohibited from engaging in during lactation:

(1) Items 1, 3, and 9 of the scope of work that are contraindicated during pregnancy;

(2) Operations where the concentration of toxic substances such as manganese, fluorine, bromine, methanol, organophosphorus compounds, and organochlorine compounds in the air of the workplace exceeds the national occupational health standards.

State council