You might also like:Doing Business in China? Check the Collection of our articles!Minimum Month Salary Standard for 2023On August 1st, 2019，the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (hereinafter “MOHRSS”) released the "Standards for Statutory Holidays and Related Leave" on its official website, clarifying five categories of leave standards including rest days, statutory holidays, annual leave, home leave, and marriage & bereavement leave.The MOHRSS pointed out that rest and leave time is the time when employees are not required to engage in work during their tenure in employers, in accordance with laws and regulations.For institutions that cannot implement a unified work schedule, flexible arrangements for rest days can be made.1. Rest dayRest day, also known as public holidays, are the rest time for employees after a week of work. According to the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Working Hours of Employees, the rest time standard for the employees is five days of work and two days of rest.The decision also stipulates that national institutions and institutions implement a unified work schedule, with Saturdays and Sundays as weekends. Enterprises and institutions that cannot implement a unified work schedule can flexibly arrange weekends based on actual conditions.2. Statutory holidaysStatutory holidays are the rest time for employees to carry out commemorative and celebratory activities, which are uniformly stipulated by national laws and regulations.The current standard for statutory holidays in China is 11 days. Holidays for all citizens include:New Year's Day, one day off;Spring Festival, three days off;Tomb Sweeping Day, one day off;Labor Day, one day off;Dragon Boat Festival, one day off;Mid-Autumn Festival, one day off;and National Day, three days off.Holidays and commemorative days for some citizens include International Women's Day (March 8), half-day off for women; Youth Day (May 4), half-day off for youths over 14 years old; Children's Day (June 1), one day off for children under 14 years old, etc.If a holiday for all citizens falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it should be made up on a workday. If a holiday for some citizens falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it does not need to be made up.3. Annual leaveAnnual leave,according to the "Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees", employees who have worked for more than one year are entitled to paid annual leave.For employees who have worked accumulatively more than one year but less than 10 years, the annual leave is five days;for employees who have worked for more than 10 years but less than 20 years, the annual leave is 10 days;for employees who have worked for more than 20 years, the annual leave is 15 days. In addition, statutory holidays and rest days stipulated by the state are not counted as annual leave. 4. Home leaveHome leave, employees who have worked for one year, do not live with their spouse, and cannot be reunited on public holidays, can enjoy a 30days home leave of visiting their spouse once a year; if they cannot live with their father or mother, and cannot reunite on public holidays, they can enjoy a 20 days home leave of visiting their parents (once a year for unmarried employees, every 4 years for married employees). At the same time, the employer should grant travel leave as needed.5. Marriage & bereavement leave When an employee himself / herself marries or an employee's immediate family members (parents, spouse and children) dies, the employer may, according to the specific circumstances, grant one to three days of marriage & bereavement leave at the discretion of the employer. In addition, travel leave can be granted according to the distance of the journey.Except the above-mentioned five kinds of leave, there are two leaves which are most concerned:* Leave for personal affairsGenerally speaking, there is no payment for leave for personal affairs.* Sick leave (medical treatment period for illness or non-work injury)During the period of treatment for illness or non-work-related injuries, the employer shall pay sick pay or sickness relief expenses in accordance with relevant regulations during the prescribed medical treatment period, and the sick pay or sickness relief expenses may be lower than the local minimum wage standard, but not less than 80% of the minimum wage standard.However, if the employee can’t show the certificate for sick leave, his / her absence will be treated as leave for personal affairs without any payment.