Employment 2025

CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Linda Liang, Ai Luo, Faluan Pan and Chutian Wang, King & Wood Mallesons

rithm regulation and occupational injury protection. The key points under the Guidelines are as follows. Promote the establishment of consultation mechanisms In 2024, the Consultation Guidelines for Workers’ Rights under New Forms of Employment (“Consulta - tion Guidelines”) were issued, stipulating measures to protect the rights and interests of workers under new forms of employment, including the consultation formats, limits on the number of consultation repre - sentatives, etc. Local implementation situations vary by region. For example, in Beijing, organisations such as industry associations and trade unions are encouraged to establish industry standards and professional codes for employees for enterprises to protect workers’ rights under new forms of employment. In Guangdong province, workers under new forms of employment are encouraged to join local trade unions. Based on the Consultation Guidelines, the Guidelines further clarify the forms of consultation to include col - lective deliberation, deliberation and co-ordination meetings, and consultation forums. Promote the standardisation of platform enterprises’ a lgorithms and the formulation of new industry labour standards A defining characteristic of the new employment forms is the use of platform algorithms in workforce control. Algorithmic rules replace traditional manual instructions in factory systems, encompassing core issues such as quality of order assigned, service pric - ing, waiting periods, dispatch durations and channels for lodging appeals. These algorithmic rules directly impact the fundamental labour rights of workers under new forms of employment, including the right to claim remuneration, the right to rest, occupational safety, etc. The Guidelines propose to “formulate industry-specif - ic labour standards tailored to the characteristics of platform-based employment models”, indicating that future labour standards will differ from those applica - ble to traditional employees; specific implementation details are yet to be further formulated.

Promote resolution of the issue of injury protection for workers under new forms of employment Workers under new forms of employment commonly face challenges of low wages, income instability and limited risk management awareness. They often care more about in-pocket salary, and may opt out of long- term social insurance in exchange for a higher wage standard, thus becoming a group of workers outside the national social insurance system in China. Following the Guidelines, the Notice on Expanding the Pilot Programme for Occupational Injury Protection for Workers under New Forms of Employment (“No 24 Notice”) came into effect on 1 July 2025. This new round of pilot programmes will extend coverage to 17 provinces based on the existing framework, while adding four additional platform enterprises. Mean - while, the Implementation Measures for Occupa - tional Injury Protection for Workers under New Forms of Employment (Trial Version) has been amended to explicitly include provisions addressing contribution benchmarks, streamlined processing procedures and other key components. At local levels, some prov - inces – such as Liaoning, Ningxia and Guangxi – have already initiated related work in accordance with the requirements stipulated in the No 24 Notice. Summary The Guidelines explicitly outline four major directions for protecting the rights of workers under new forms of employment: • establishing consultative mechanisms; • advancing industry-specific labour standards; • addressing occupational injury protection issues; and • improving complaint and appeal mechanisms. In the coming years, both national and local govern - ments are expected to successively develop corre - sponding implementation rules and standards. Plat - form enterprises and their co-operative partners are advised to pay close attention to these regulatory developments, and should endeavour to safeguard workers’ basic rights while mitigating relevant legal risks during the operations and management of work - ers under new forms of employment.

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