Answer: To determine when the employment relationship between you and the employer begins, you need to consider both the agreements in the employment contract and the actual commencement time of your work. The commencement of employment relationships is not necessarily determined by the signature of the employment contract.1The Supreme People’s Court (2016) Supreme Fa Min Zai No.148, Cong Mingzi, the Civil Judgment of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the People’s Republic of China on the retrial of labor disputes. ¡°It should be noted that the judgment of whether there is an employment relationship between a worker and an employer does not necessarily require the signing of an employment contract as the prerequisite.¡±
There are three situations in determining the commencement of employment. The first situation is that the commencement of employment relationship is the date when you start to work (either a trial work or formal work), if there is no employment contract in place.
The second circumstance is that if your actual work starts earlier than the starting date specified in the employment contract, the actual work starting time is the commencement of the employment relationship. However, if you actually started working to help set up or register your employer¡¯s business, your employment relationship should begin when the employer is incorporated.
The third situation is that you start work after you sign the employment contract. In this case, the starting date of the employment contract shall be the commencement date of employment relationship unless you have already started work prior to that date. Even if you pause to start work on that date, the employment relationship still have commenced on that day according to the employment contract.
If the two parties dispute the start time of your employment relationship, the court will combine the evidence of the case, either uphold the claim of the employee (because the employer has the obligation to keep the files of employment relationships),2Anyang Guoyou Real Estate Co., Ltd., Cui Yin Labor Dispute Retrial Review and Trial Supervision Civil Ruling Henan Provincial People¡¯s High Court Civil Ruling (2020) Yu Min Shen No.1257. ¡°Guoyou Company, as the employer, did not comply with the law according to the provisions of Article 6 of the Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China. It failed to provide relevant evidence of when the employment relationships between the two parties were established, so it was not improper for the original judgment to determine that the employment relationships between the two parties began in July 2011 according to Cui Yin’s claim.¡±or determine the start time of employment relationships according to the evidence such wage payment and social insurance purchase.
The identification of the beginning of employment relationship has an important impact on judging whether employees have employment relationships with employers, whether employers have the obligation to pay wages, purchase social insurance for employees, and calculate the length of service of employees.
This article is a part of our new book“Employment Law in China: A Practical Guide. A book about “What should I do” with case laws.”Stay tuned, and the book will soon be published as an electronic books!
Mr. Dong Wang has been in practice for over 20 years, specializing in business law, including employment law, commercial law, company law, and intellectual property law. Mr. Wang has earned respect and trust from his clients due to his professionalism, fidielty, and kindness.
Email: wangdong@royalaw.com
- 1The Supreme People’s Court (2016) Supreme Fa Min Zai No.148, Cong Mingzi, the Civil Judgment of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the People’s Republic of China on the retrial of labor disputes. ¡°It should be noted that the judgment of whether there is an employment relationship between a worker and an employer does not necessarily require the signing of an employment contract as the prerequisite.¡±
- 2Anyang Guoyou Real Estate Co., Ltd., Cui Yin Labor Dispute Retrial Review and Trial Supervision Civil Ruling Henan Provincial People¡¯s High Court Civil Ruling (2020) Yu Min Shen No.1257. ¡°Guoyou Company, as the employer, did not comply with the law according to the provisions of Article 6 of the Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China. It failed to provide relevant evidence of when the employment relationships between the two parties were established, so it was not improper for the original judgment to determine that the employment relationships between the two parties began in July 2011 according to Cui Yin’s claim.¡±