Chinese Work Week

The duration of the Chinese work week depends on the field and location of work. China is a vast place, different places have different markets. It would be naive to say "yes" or "no" in general terms, indicating a lack of understanding of the market.

Here are some examples based on southern China:

1. The factories in the south usually take 1 / 2 days off every month, while the Chinese new year takes 1-2 months off, so you can say that they work 7 days a week, but they can take a long vacation.

2. Government officials and civil servants usually have 5 days a week and 9-5 days on weekends

3. Showroom staff/import and export companies usually take six days off a week and six days off a day.

4. The training center works five and a half days a week to six days a day.

These are areas where I'm more familiar with how they work, and you can see that there are big differences between factory workers and civil servants. Now, even the number of working hours per day varies according to work, for example, factory workers work 10 to 12 hours per day. Civil servants 9-5. From 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the training center, the staff of the exhibition hall once again provided up to 12 hours of service.

I can only say for sure that, on average, they work at least a lot more hours a week than in the UK, and they earn much less (if you are told that you are working overtime, you are doing it, probably without pay).

Now, whether these hours are equal to higher total output is another question entirely.

Officially, China's labor law requires 44 hours a week, but China's law requires 40 hours a week. Most municipal authorities (it seems) require 40 hours a week but be aware that this workweek may not be practical for some employees. Therefore, the exception to the "basic management" rule is to allow the "flexible management" working time system for "advanced management".

However, before an employer can implement a flexible working time system for its employees, it is usually necessary to obtain permission from the relevant authorities. However, it seems that every Chinese city has its own rules in terms of its requirements and permissive conditions. Different cities may have different regulations. For example, before you can apply flexible working hours to all types of employees, Shanghai needs permission from the competent authorities. In addition, even if the method of paid employees is allowed in Shanghai, Shanghai requires employers to provide them with at least one day a week instead of working days.

To complicate matters, even more, each region in a particular city may have different requirements. That's why when one of our clients seeks advice from one of our Chinese employment lawyers, we always contact the specific region where the client is registered so that we can understand the specific local regulations that the client must follow.

It should be made clear that managers who do not have the qualification of "senior managers" in the rules may still be approved to provide flexible working time system for such employees.