{"id":5673,"date":"2025-10-30T04:13:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T04:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ms-advisory.flow-work.online\/?p=5673"},"modified":"2026-04-20T11:27:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:27:49","slug":"leave-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/msadvisory.com\/leave-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual leave in China"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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When hiring employees in China, foreign businesses and employers must know the different kinds of leave they must provide to ensure compliance with local and national law. This article will discuss the various types of leaves that are applicable to employees in China.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What is the Minimum Level of Annual Statutory Leave, and How is it Managed?<\/h2>

Statutory leave pertains to the minimum number of paid holidays that almost all employees are entitled to take annually. It is usually based on the tenure and level of experience of the employee as described in the table below:<\/p>

These leave entitlements are set by China\u2019s Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees<\/a>, which calculate paid leave based on an employee\u2019s total cumulative working years across all employers.<\/p>
Work Tenure<\/th>Days Leave<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
0 \u2013 1 year<\/td>No leave<\/td><\/tr>
1 \u2013 10 years<\/td>5 days<\/td><\/tr>
10 \u2013 20 years<\/td>10 days<\/td><\/tr>
Over 20 years<\/td>15 days<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>

As shown in the table, employees with less than a year of tenure are not entitled to statutory leave. However, China is one of the most generous countries<\/a> in awarding paid annual leave to employees. Rather than interpreting the table as applicable only to the current employer, it is generally based on the employee\u2019s overall work experience or tenure, including work years from past and present employers.<\/p>

Statutory leaves do not include public holidays, rest days, or any holiday the Chinese government declares.<\/p>

If an employee has worked for a new employer for less than a year, their annual leave can be computed as follows:<\/p>

Amount of annual statutory leave = (The number of days the employee will be working for the current employer in the year) \/ 365 days x (The employee\u2019s total statutory annual leave in the same year based on their overall work years)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How is Untaken Leave Treated?<\/h2>

Untaken statutory leave are usually carried over to the next year. However, employers set a deadline for when this is applicable.<\/p>

Generally, employees must use their leftover leaves from the previous year before the end of the current work year. If employees voluntarily decide not to use their remaining leaves by the deadline, they must sign a written agreement to avoid possible future disputes.<\/p>

However, suppose the employee decides not to carry over the untaken leaves and there is no prior agreement regarding the matter. In that case, the employer must pay the employee at least 200% of their daily wage for each unused leave. For instance, if an employee has 10 remaining leaves, they will be paid twice their average daily wage for each of the 10 statutory leaves.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Major Types of Leaves in China<\/h2>

Sick Leave<\/h2>

The minimum number of sick leaves given to employees varies according to provincial and municipal regulations<\/a>. This gives employers more control over the paid sick leaves they want to give their employees per year.<\/p>

However, China has laws regarding the employee\u2019s recuperation period. An employer cannot terminate the employee on leave due to non-occupational sickness or injury. Additionally, the law requires employers to pay a portion of the sick employee\u2019s salary.<\/p>

Beijing<\/h3>

In Beijing, the recuperation period is computed based on whether the employee has worked for the last 10 years and the years they have worked for their current employer.<\/p>

If they have worked for less than five years in their current company, they are entitled to a three-month recuperation period.<\/p>

However, if their cumulative working years are greater than 10 years, even if they have worked for less than five years for their current employer, they are entitled to up to six months of recuperation leave.<\/p>

Shanghai<\/h3>

In Shanghai, the minimum recuperation period implemented is three months. One month is added to this period for each year of the employee\u2019s service to the company from the second year onward. The total allowed recuperation period cannot exceed 24 months.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Maternity Leave \/ Prenatal Check-ups<\/h2>

In China, leaves for pregnant women vary per region<\/a>, depending on what the local government imposes. However, according to the general guidelines, employees from their 12th week of pregnancy are entitled to paid leave for their prenatal checkups.<\/p>

Maternity leaves in China consist of two parts:<\/p>