Answer: According to the 1994 Regulations on Medical Care Leave for Enterprise Employees with Illness or Non-Work-Related Injuries issued by the former Ministry of Labor, paid sick leave refers to the right of employees to receive paid time off when they are personally ill (excluding occupational diseases caused by work) or injured (excluding work-related injuries). The number of days for paid sick leave is referred to as the medical care leave.
Whether you are eligible for paid sick leave depends on the type of employee you belong to.
For full-time employees on standard hours, all employee are entitled to paid sick leave. However, the number of days of paid leave varies depending on individual employee¡¯s total length of past employment services and consecutive length of employment with the current employer. 1Article 3 of the Reply of the General Office of the Ministry of Labor to the Request for Instructions on How to Understand “Continuous Service Years for the Same Employer” and “Service Years for the Current Employer” (Lao Ban Fa (1996) 191). ¡°When calculating medical care leave and economic compensation, “Service Years for the Current Employer” and “Continuous service years for the Same Employer” are the same concept. The medical care leave previously enjoyed by an employee according to law shall not be deducted from them. The accumulative service year refers to the actual service years referred to in the Regulations on Medical Care Leave for Enterprise Employees with Illness or Non-work-related Injuries, and it refers to the total accumulative length of service of the employee, including the periods in the current employer and other employers. ¡±The maximum total length of the first medical care leave when you fall ill for the first time in your current employment is determined by your total length of services (including services for other employers) and your consecutive length of service in the current employer. Please refer to the medical care leave table below for more details prescribed by the former Ministry of Labor. Please note that the number of sick leave days to which an employee is entitled is calculated on a variable duration basis, not a calendar year.
| Medical Care Leave | ||||
| Accumulative Service years | Service years in Current Employer | Medical Care Leave (Month) | Computation
Duration(Month) |
|
| Less than 10 years | Less than 5 years | 3 | 6 | |
| Less than 10 years | More than 5 years(inclusive) and Less than 10 years | 6 | 12 | |
| More than 10 years (inclusive) | More than 5 years(inclusive) and Less than 10 years | 9 | 15 | |
| More than 10 years (inclusive) | More than 10 years(inclusive) and Less than 15 years | 12 | 18 | |
| More than 10 years (inclusive) | More than 15 years(inclusive) and Less than 20 years | 18 | 24 | |
| More than 10 years (inclusive) | More than 20 years | 24 | 30 | |
It should be noted that each provinces and cities may have specific local regulations regarding length of medical care leave. This table applies only to certain provinces and cities such as Guangdong Province and Shenzhen City, but other provinces and cities may have different rules regarding the number of days for medical care leave.
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- 1Article 3 of the Reply of the General Office of the Ministry of Labor to the Request for Instructions on How to Understand “Continuous Service Years for the Same Employer” and “Service Years for the Current Employer” (Lao Ban Fa (1996) 191). ¡°When calculating medical care leave and economic compensation, “Service Years for the Current Employer” and “Continuous service years for the Same Employer” are the same concept. The medical care leave previously enjoyed by an employee according to law shall not be deducted from them. The accumulative service year refers to the actual service years referred to in the Regulations on Medical Care Leave for Enterprise Employees with Illness or Non-work-related Injuries, and it refers to the total accumulative length of service of the employee, including the periods in the current employer and other employers. ¡±