The Labour Rights of Female Employees in Private Enterprises in China - Essay Example

The Labour Rights of Female Employees in Private Enterprises in China Name Institution Course Date The Labour Rights of Female Employees in Private Enterprises in China Introduction China’s Constitution is one of the most progressive constitutions that emphasizes on every person is equal regardless of ethnic background, sex, gender, religious belief and stresses that women shall not be discriminated against in any aspect of civil life, such as employment1. In addition to the constitution, China has several other laws that are designed specifically to protect and promote equality in employment. Despite this being the case, discrimination against women is still widespread, and is widely accepted both in government agencies and by private employers. Besides discrimination, Chinese female employees in the private sector jobs are subjected to many kings of rights abuses, such as sexual harassments among others. This begs the question as to whether the existing laws are effective enough in protecting the rights of female employees in the private sectors. This paper describes the legal documents adopted in China to safeguard the labor rights of female workers in private enterprises. The paper will also provide a detailed analysis of the extent to which the existing legal documents help in protecting the rights of female workers in private enterprises in China. The Law on Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests The Law on Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests, otherwise called the “Women’s Law” is one of the existing legal documents that provides protection to the rights of female employees in private enterprises. This legal document was promulgated in 1992 during the Fifth Session of the Seventh National People’s Congress2. However, the law was later amended in 2005 to introduce more clauses so as to ensure that female employees are adequately protected in their places of work. The provisions protecting the rights and interests of female employees are contained in Chapter IV of the document. According to Article 22 of the Act, women Chinese government shall ensure that women enjoy the same rights as men in work and social security. This provision provides protection to the female employees as it bars private enterprise employers from discriminating against female employees on account of their gender3. Article 23 of the Act says that, with the exception of certain types of jobs that are unsuitable to women, no employer is allowed, when hiring its staff, to refuse hiring female employees on the basis of sex or raise the standards of employment for women. This provision protects female employees as it ensures that a female employee is not discriminated against in a job that she can do on the basis that she is a woman. Besides, Article 23 proceeds to state that an employer is prohibited from introducing a clause that restricts childbearing and marriage of female employees in the labor contract or service agreement4. This implies that an employer cannot introduce clauses that restrict the marital status of women and childbearing into the employment contract as this would amount to discrimination and a violation of the rights of female employees. Additionally, Article 23 provides protections to the right of female employees by prohibiting employing female minors below 16 years of age. Disparity in compensation has been an issue in China. Women in particular tend to be paid less compared to their male counterparts in most jobs. Therefore, to protect female employees against discriminatory compensation, Article 24 of this Act requires employers to provide equal pay for men and women. The article states that female employees shall enjoy equal rights with men when it comes to compensation and welfare benefits5. Article 25 prevents employers from discriminating against employees on promotion. This article protects the rights of employees by requiring promotions to be awarded on merit and not on the basis of an employee’s gender. Article 26 of the Act protects the rights of female workers by prohibiting employers from assigning female employees duties that does not suit them. Besides, this article also protects the rights of female workers during pregnancy, menstrual period and during nursing and obstetrical times. Article 27 of the Act also provides protection for female employees by prohibiting employers from arbitrarily reducing the wages and salaries of female workers because they are pregnant, married, breast-feeding or on maternity leave. Special Provisions on Labor Protection of Female Workers This legal document was adopted at the 200th State Council meeting on 18 April 2012 and came into effect on the same day. This law was enacted in order to ensure that female employees are protected from discrimination and abuse by their employers6. The law has a number of provisions that provides protection to the rights of women in different areas in employment. Article 5 of this legal document prohibits employers of private enterprises from reducing the wages and salaries of female employees, rescind or terminate their contracts due to reasons such as pregnancy, breast-feeding or childbirth. Article 6 of the Act also provides protection to female workers by prohibiting employers from assigning pregnant women duties that they are not able to do due to pregnancy and requires that employers provide such women with enough time for rest and that any time spent by female workers on maternity leave be counted as labor hours7. Article 11 of the Act also provides protection to female employees against sexual harassments in the workplace. According to Article 11, employers are prohibited from sexually harassing female workers in the workplace8. Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China This legal document was adopted on June 2007 at the 28th Meeting of the Standard Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress and promulgated on 28 December 2012 during the 30th meeting of the Meeting Committee of the Eleventh National People’s Congress. The document has chapters and provisions that provide protection to the female employees in private enterprises. In particular, Article 52 of the Act provides protection to female workers by prohibiting employers from discrimination in hiring, promotion and compensation. The Article also protects female employees from sexual harassments by employers in the workplace. Provisions on Labor Protection of Female Employees This legal document was adopted in 1988 on June 28, 1988 and promulgated in July 21, 1988. The legal document has provisions that seek to protect the rights of female employees in the private enterprises. Article 3 of the Act protects the rights of female employees by prohibiting any company that is appropriate for women from refusing to hire female workers9. This implies that any employer who rejects a female employee on the basis of gender is liable for prosecution under the law, as it amounts to a violation of this provision. Article 4 of the Act is the other provision that offer protection to female employees. Article 4 prohibits a company from reducing the wages and salaries or terminating the contract of an employee because of reasons, such as pregnancy, lactation and confinement. Article 6 and 7 of the Act also protects the rights of women especially during pregnancy by prohibiting employers from assigning pregnant female employees hard jobs or jobs that puts their safety and life at risk. As such, Article 6 and 7 seeks to protect female employees who are pregnancy, menstruating or breastfeeding from being assigned tasks that puts their health and safety at risk. The other provisions that protect the rights of female employees include Articles 8, 9, 10 and 1110. Analysis of the Effectiveness of these Legal Documents Although China has enacted laws that seeks to protect the rights of female employees in private enterprises in addition to the Constitution, these laws have not been effective in protecting the rights of female workers in private enterprises. For instance, discrimination against female employees is commonplace in private enterprises despite the existence of these laws. In fact, some of the existing laws appear to institutionalize discrimination against female employees, leave alone protecting them. For instance, the Regulations on the Scope of Prohibited Labour for Female Workers explicitly prevent women from performing physically demanding tasks, such as underground mining, logging, scaffolding or setting up power lines11. Besides, the law has a regulation that bar pregnant, menstruating and breast-feeding from being assigned certain jobs. The imposition of such blanket provisions, instead of requiring a physical ability test only serves to portray women as week and unsuitable for certain jobs thus institutionalizing discrimination against them instead of protecting the female workers. The lack of effectiveness of the existing laws in protecting the rights of women is demonstrated by the prevalence of glass ceiling in private enterprises. Although glass ceiling has declined in China in the recent years, most private enterprises still favor men to women in hiring and promotion, as well as compensation. A study conducted in China found that, in the leading 20 domestic firms, 96% of the executives committee members are men while 68% of the firms have no female executives12. This indicates the high prevalence of discrimination against women in private enterprises. Besides, the country reports many cases of sexual harassments against female employees, despite existence of the laws and this indicates that the laws are indeed not effective in protecting female workers in private enterprises. Conclusion Women and men are both equal and should be accorded equal treatment according to China’s Constitution. However, Chinese women have faced many challenges in private enterprises due to discrimination and mistreatments. Therefore, to protect the rights of female employees in private enterprises, a number of laws have been enacted in China to protect the rights of female employees. These include The Law on Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests, Special Provisions on Labor Protection of Female Workers, Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, and Provisions on Labor Protection of Female Employees. However, as indicated in the analysis, these laws have not been effective in protecting women in private enterprises as discrimination, harassments and other forms of mistreatments are still commonplace in private enterprises. Bibliography All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Special Rules on the Labor Protection of Female Employees (2012). http://en.acftu.org/28616/201408/26/140826131330762.shtml Burnett, Jamie. Women's Employment Rights in China: Creating Harmony for Women in the Workplace. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 17. 2 (2010): 289-318. China.Org. Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women. Web. 3 November 2016 http://www.china.org.cn/english/government/207405.htm Ogletree, Charles J. and Alwis, Rangita de Silva-de. When Gender Differences Become a Trap: The Impact of China's Labor Law on Women. Yale Journal of Law & Feminism, 14.1(2002): 69-96. Voyles, Bennett. The Glass Ceiling in China: Is it Getting Thinner or Thicker? China Business Review (2015) http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/the-glass-ceiling-in-china-is-it-getting-thinner-or-thicker/ Read More