Browse through brief employment and labor law updates from around the globe. Contact a Littler attorney for more information or view our global locations.

Amid #MeToo Movement, Sexual Harassment Claims Gain Widespread Attention

Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency

Author: Hongjuan Bai, Partner – JunHe

Luo Xixi, a former doctoral student at Beijing’s Beihang University, who is currently reportedly living and working in the U.S., credited the #MeToo movement – which aims to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment and assault, particularly in the workplaces – as providing the inspiration to go public on Chinese social media with a complaint. On January 1, 2018, Luo alleged that her former doctoral supervisor had sexually harassed her 12 years earlier, when she was a student. With other female students making similar allegations through social media against the doctoral supervisor, on January 11, 2018, he was reportedly stripped of his teaching qualification and administrative responsibilities, though as yet his employment has not been terminated.

New Personal Information Security Specification

New Regulation or Official Guidance

Author: Hongjuan Bai, Partner – JunHe

China issued the Information Security Techniques - Personal Information Security Specification (GB/T35273-2017) (Specification) in January 2018, to be implemented on May 1, 2018. This Specification defines the terms such as personal information controller, sheds light on the scope and examples of personal information and personal sensitive information, refines the detailed requirements and restrictions for the collection, use, storage, share and transfer of such personal data, details the requirements of obtaining the information subjects’ agreement, and provides samples of privacy policies. Although the Specification is not a mandatory national standard, relevant authorities are likely to refer to it when interpreting laws and regulations.

Whether the Employment Contract Law Will Be Amended

Trend

Author: Hongjuan Bai, Partner – JunHe

On whether the Employment Contract Law (ECL) in China will be amended, a National People’s Congress (NPC) official stated that since a consensus has not yet developed among government agencies and labor union regarding whether the ECL shall be responsible for creating an inflexible labor market and its impact on employment cost, it is not an appropriate and ripe timing to amend the ECL at this stage. Therefore, it is foreseeable that the ECL will not be amended for some time.