How do China working time and leave rules work in 2026?

The rules come from the Labour Contract Law of the People's Republic of China (2008) and the PRC Labour Law (1994), Article 36.

Unlike the UK or Germany, China has no mechanism for individuals to agree to work beyond the statutory cap. Overtime must be agreed through collective consultation and is capped at 3 hours per day and 36 hours per month without the employee's consent. The employer can only exceed those overtime ceilings in genuine emergency circumstances.

Overtime pay rates

Chinese law sets mandatory premium rates for time worked beyond normal hours:

• Weekday overtime (beyond the daily 8-hour limit): at least 150% of normal hourly pay
• Weekend work where a compensating rest day cannot be arranged: at least 200% of normal pay
• Work on a statutory public holiday: at least 300% of normal pay, with no substitute rest day substitution permitted

These rates are minimums. Contracts and collective agreements can set higher rates.

The standard-hours and aggregated-hours systems

Most employees work under the standard-hours system described above. A small category of roles can apply for an aggregated-hours system, covering a longer reference period such as a quarter or year rather than the daily and weekly caps. This requires prior approval from the local human resources authority. It is not a simple employer election and is not equivalent to the UK opt-out.

The absence of a prescribed minimum daily rest period between workdays is a notable gap compared with EU-derived frameworks. In practice, local labour bureaus and employment tribunals apply the daily 8-hour cap as the effective boundary. Teamed's standard China employment contracts specify an 8-hour day and a 5-day week to give employees a clear contractual baseline.

Night work and shift work do not carry a separate statutory premium under national law, though some provincial regulations and industry collective agreements add shift allowances. Verify locally for your employee's province and industry.

The rules come from the Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees (State Council Decree No. 514, 2008).

Two things about China's leave system differ from every Western framework an international employer will have used before:

• Service counts across all employers. An employee who has worked 11 years in total, including previous jobs, starts with 10 days from day one with your company. You must ask for a work history statement at onboarding.
• Public holidays are not bundled into the annual leave total. The 7 statutory holiday occasions sit completely outside annual leave. They are separate rights. An employee gets annual leave on top of public holidays, not instead of them.

Carry-over rules

Unused annual leave can carry over to the following year if the employer is unable to arrange leave due to work demands. The employer must give prior notice and pay the employee 300% of their daily salary for each day of leave that could not be taken. Employees who waive their leave entitlement voluntarily are not entitled to this compensatory payment. The default position is that leave must be taken within the leave year.

Leave pay calculation

Annual leave is paid at the employee's normal daily wage. For the purposes of the carry-over payment, the daily rate is calculated as monthly salary divided by 21.75 working days (the national average working days per month).

New-joiner proration

Employees who join partway through the year receive a prorated entitlement based on the remaining months in the calendar year, calculated as full-year entitlement multiplied by remaining months divided by 12, rounded to one decimal place.

The framework comes from the Measures for National Holidays and Memorial Day Leave, amended effective 1 January 2025.

The 7 statutory occasions for 2026 are:

The day-swap system

China's State Council publishes an annual holiday calendar that moves surrounding Saturdays and Sundays to create continuous multi-day breaks. For example, a Saturday that becomes a working day to extend the Spring Festival Golden Week is called a mandatory working day. Employees who do not work these make-up Saturdays are typically unpaid for that day.

The practical implication for employers: your China team will not be available for extended periods in late January or early February and in early October. Plan project deadlines and payroll cycles around the published calendar each year. The next year's calendar is normally announced by the State Council in November.

Holiday premium pay

Work performed on a statutory public holiday must be paid at no less than 300% of the employee's normal daily rate. There is no substitute rest-day option for statutory public holidays, unlike for regular weekend work.

The national maternity leave framework comes from the Special Rules on Labour Protection of Female Employees (State Council Decree No. 619, 2012). The 98 days national minimum is a floor, not a ceiling.

Extended maternity leave

Most provinces have extended maternity leave beyond the 98-day national minimum. Common provincial extensions add 30 to 90 additional days, bringing total entitlements to 128 to 188 days in many regions. These extensions are given in exchange for compliance with family planning regulations. Always verify the provincial entitlement for your employee's place of employment.

Maternity pay during the statutory leave period is funded through the maternity insurance fund, part of the social insurance system. The benefit amount is based on the employer's average monthly wage for the prior year. The employer advances the payment and reclaims from the fund. Employees whose employers have paid maternity insurance contributions receive this benefit; others are entitled to their normal wage from the employer for the leave period.

Paternity leave

China has no unified national paternity leave law. Each province sets its own entitlement through local population and family planning regulations. Duration ranges from 10 days (Shanghai) to 30 days or more in various inland provinces. Most provinces in the 7 to 30 day range grant leave somewhere between 15 and 20 days. Verify the specific provincial entitlement before hiring.

Paternity leave is typically paid. Payment often comes through the social insurance maternity fund in the same way as maternity leave, subject to the employer having contributed to that fund.

Nursing breaks

Female employees with children under one year of age are entitled to two daily nursing breaks of 30 minutes each. These breaks are treated as working time and paid at the normal rate.

Protection against dismissal

Employers cannot terminate a female employee's contract during pregnancy, maternity leave, or the nursing period unless the employee is dismissed for serious misconduct or gross negligence under Article 39 of the Labour Contract Law. A termination that violates this rule is unlawful.

The rules come from the Measures for Enterprise Employees on Sick Leave or Non-Work-Related Illness (Ministry of Labour [1994] No. 479).

Service tiers for sick pay

The sick pay percentage rises with total service years at the company:

• Fewer than 2 years: 60% of normal wages
• 2 to under 4 years: 70% of normal wages
• 4 to under 6 years: 80% of normal wages
• 6 to under 8 years: 90% of normal wages
• 8 or more years: 100% of normal wages

In all cases, sick pay must not fall below the applicable local minimum wage. Employers in Shanghai, Beijing, and other high-wage cities typically apply higher minimums set by local regulations.

Medical treatment period

Chinese law gives employees a protected medical treatment period during which they cannot be dismissed solely for illness. The length of this period depends on total years of service and years with the current employer. It ranges from 3 months for short-service employees to 24 months for employees with 20 or more years of total service and 15 or more years with the current employer. The employer must continue sick pay throughout this period.

Once the medical treatment period expires and the employee cannot perform their original job or an alternative arranged by the employer, the employer may terminate the contract with 30 days written notice (or one month's salary instead of notice) and statutory severance pay.

Work-related illness and injury

Work-related illness and injury is handled separately under the Work-Related Injury Insurance Regulations. The worker's compensation insurance fund, not the employer directly, covers most of the cost. Employers must enrol employees in work-related injury insurance from the first day of employment.

Real HR and legal experts manage your China working-time obligations: the tiered annual leave calculation from the employee's work history, the provincial paternity leave verification, sick pay during the medical treatment period, and every Golden Week make-up day in the annual calendar. An actual person, not a chatbot or a pooled queue. There is no setup fee and no exit fee. Employer social insurance cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice.

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Key sources: Labour Contract Law of the PRC (2008), Regulations on Paid Annual Leave (State Council Decree No. 514), and China 2026 public holiday schedule (State Council).

1. Verify the employee's work history

   Ask for a record of prior employment service at onboarding. Annual leave tiers in China are based on total career service, not just tenure with your company.

2. Confirm the province of employment

   Paternity leave duration and minimum sick pay thresholds are set locally. Verify the applicable provincial rules before the employee's first month of work.

3. Set up the annual holiday calendar

   China's State Council publishes the year's make-up working days each November. Brief your team on Golden Week blackout periods and payroll cut-off dates before each cycle.

4. Check overtime controls

   There is no individual opt-out of the weekly limit. Any planned overtime beyond the monthly ceiling requires prior consultation and must be logged at the correct premium pay rates.

5. Enrol in all mandatory social insurance funds

   Maternity leave pay and work-related injury benefits are funded through social insurance. Enrolment from day one protects both the employee and your company from liability.