China: Annual Leave Policy

Note: Under Chinese labor law, an employee's statutory annual leave entitlement is determined strictly based on their cumulative work experience (total career working years in China), rather than their tenure with their current company alone. Consequently, employees must provide official supporting documentation to verify their total career history and accurately establish their leave entitlement. 

Supporting documents

• During the onboarding, please provide social security contribution records
• Employee may also provide previous employment certificates or labor contracts as a further confirmation

Proration Calculation

Annual leave entitlement / 12 x (number of complete months worked)

1. Statutory PTO cannot be forfeited
2. • The employer is responsible for arranging statutory annual leave within the applicable leave year.
   • Unused statutory leave must be handled through an agreed carryover, a valid written waiver initiated by the employee, or the required payout. It must not expire.
      
2. Carryover requires agreement
3. • Where business needs prevent leave from being taken in the current year, statutory leave may be carried over to the following year with the employee’s consent.
   • Carryover should not be decided unilaterally by either the client or the employee.
   • Any carried-over balance should be used by end of subsequent year
      
3. Payout Types
4. • If the employee takes the leave, they receive their normal salary.
   • If the employer properly arranges or offers the leave but the employee declines it for personal reasons (in writing), employee shall receive encashment at 200%
   • If the leave is not taken because the employer did not arrange it—and there is no valid written employee waiver—employee shall receive 300% of the employee’s daily wage for each unused statutory leave day. This amount includes the 100% normal salary already paid, so the additional payment is 200%.
      
4. Additional / client-provided PTO
5. • Leave granted above the statutory entitlement may generally be governed by the employment agreement and the client’s policy, including any carryover or forfeiture rules.

Remote sends an Annual Leave Reminder email to the customer and their China-based team members. It prompts team members to plan how to use their remaining PTO before year end. It also creates early written evidence that leave was encouraged.

Remote checks each employee's remaining PTO balance and sends a formal leave assignment notice to:

• Confirm the remaining balance.
• Formally ask customers to start assigning PTO dates, or to agree with their team members to carry the balance over through the end of next year.
• Start documenting that leave was offered or assigned.

Remote emails the client to ask them to assign PTO dates. There are three possible outcomes:

1. Team member takes the assigned PTO: No premium payment is required.
2. Team member declines the assigned PTO for personal reasons: Remote issues a voluntary waiver for the declined leave.
3. Customer and team member agree to carry over the balance: Remote issues an amendment to formalize it.
   

Remote follows up on the November email to:

• Do a final check of all accrued, unused PTO balances.
• Confirm the final treatment of unused accrued PTO.
• Reduce the risk of higher payout liability for unused statutory PTO.