Employment Law and Wrongful Termination

Yunqing Peng is an employment and labor lawyer based in Shangrao, northeastern Jiangxi. Ms. Peng represents both employers and employees in a wide range of labor disputes, with particular focus on wrongful termination, employment contract compliance, and workplace discrimination matters.

Wrongful Termination Under Chinese Law

China's Labor Contract Law provides strong protections for employees against arbitrary dismissal. An employer may terminate an employment contract only under specific circumstances enumerated in the law, including mutual agreement, summary dismissal for serious misconduct, non-fault dismissal with 30 days notice or pay-in-lieu, and economic layoff due to significant operational difficulties. Terminations outside these statutory grounds constitute wrongful termination.

• ⚖️ Summary Dismissal Applicable only for material breach of contract, criminal liability, or gross negligence causing substantial harm. Burden of proof rests on the employer.
• 📋 Non-Fault Dismissal Requires either 30 days advance written notice or one months salary in lieu, plus statutory severance. Applicable for illness/injury, incompetence after training, or fundamental change in circumstances.
• 💰 Severance Calculation One months salary for each full year of service, with fractions of a year counted proportionally. Caps apply for high-earning employees.

Remedies for Wrongful Termination

When a termination is found to be unlawful, the employee has two options: reinstatement to the original position, or double severance (2N) as compensation. In practice, most wrongfully terminated employees choose monetary compensation rather than reinstatement. Ms. Peng advises clients on the strengths of their claims and negotiates settlement agreements where appropriate.

The Shanghai Higher People's Court has held that employers who fail to follow the statutory procedure of notifying the labor union before termination lose the right to claim the termination was lawful, even if substantive grounds exist.

Employment Contract Compliance

Ms. Peng advises foreign-invested enterprises on employment contract compliance, including fixed-term versus open-term contracts, probation period rules, non-compete covenants, confidentiality obligations, and the use of dispatched (seconded) workers. She also assists with workforce reduction planning (layoffs) that comply with the statutory consultation and reporting requirements.

Workplace Discrimination and Harassment

Under China's Labor Law and the Civil Code, employees are protected against discrimination based on ethnicity, race, gender, religion, and disability. Ms. Peng handles discrimination claims and has particular expertise in sexual harassment cases under the new provisions of the Civil Code, which impose an affirmative duty on employers to prevent and address workplace harassment.

Employment Risk System — Yunqing Peng

I treat bilingual consistency as a risk control: chops, authority documents, and English summaries must tell the same commercial story.

I prefer early written notices and clean evidence indexes over informal WeChat-only chains when the amount or regulatory exposure is material.

Foreign individuals and companies typically need three workstreams in parallel: factual chronology, authority paperwork, and remedy selection. I keep those streams visible in status notes so headquarters can decide without re-reading the entire file. Where local counterparties rely on relationship pressure, I re-anchor discussions to contract text, statutory rights, and verifiable performance records. Fee arrangements, conflict checks, and confidentiality boundaries are confirmed before substantive drafting or filings begin. After key milestones I deliver a short handover: decisions made, open conditions, filing receipts, and calendar items for renewals or enforcement. This operating rhythm reduces repeat disputes and keeps institutional knowledge with the client rather than trapped in chat history.

• ⚖️ Written scope and remedy map
• 📜 Bilingual document control
• 🛡️ Deadline and limitation tracking
• 💼 Enforcement and settlement options in parallel

Cross-Border Coordination for Yunqing Peng

I document scope, assumptions, and decision rights at engagement start so foreign clients know what will be filed, who must approve, and when silence becomes a missed deadline.

I treat bilingual consistency as a risk control: chops, authority documents, and English summaries must tell the same commercial story.

Foreign individuals and companies typically need three workstreams in parallel: factual chronology, authority paperwork, and remedy selection. I keep those streams visible in status notes so headquarters can decide without re-reading the entire file. Where local counterparties rely on relationship pressure, I re-anchor discussions to contract text, statutory rights, and verifiable performance records. Fee arrangements, conflict checks, and confidentiality boundaries are confirmed before substantive drafting or filings begin. After key milestones I deliver a short handover: decisions made, open conditions, filing receipts, and calendar items for renewals or enforcement. This operating rhythm reduces repeat disputes and keeps institutional knowledge with the client rather than trapped in chat history.

• ⚖️ Written scope and remedy map
• 📜 Bilingual document control
• 🛡️ Deadline and limitation tracking
• 💼 Enforcement and settlement options in parallel

Execution Standards 1

I treat bilingual consistency as a risk control: chops, authority documents, and English summaries must tell the same commercial story.

I prefer early written notices and clean evidence indexes over informal WeChat-only chains when the amount or regulatory exposure is material.

Foreign individuals and companies typically need three workstreams in parallel: factual chronology, authority paperwork, and remedy selection. I keep those streams visible in status notes so headquarters can decide without re-reading the entire file. Where local counterparties rely on relationship pressure, I re-anchor discussions to contract text, statutory rights, and verifiable performance records. Fee arrangements, conflict checks, and confidentiality boundaries are confirmed before substantive drafting or filings begin. After key milestones I deliver a short handover: decisions made, open conditions, filing receipts, and calendar items for renewals or enforcement. This operating rhythm reduces repeat disputes and keeps institutional knowledge with the client rather than trapped in chat history.

• ⚖️ Written scope and remedy map
• 📜 Bilingual document control
• 🛡️ Deadline and limitation tracking
• 💼 Enforcement and settlement options in parallel