Decision on the Revision of Regulations of Beijing Municipality on Population and Family Planning" (hereinafter referred as to the Regulations) by the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress was issued and implemented on November 26, 2021. The Regulations has the force of law within the administrative jurisdiction of Beijing Municipality.

Jin Xiaolian, an expert on social security and labor law, has taken the time to answer some frequently asked questions about the Regulations.

Types and applicability of leaves under the Regulations

Under the Regulations, a couple shall be entitled to a leave of seven days in addition to the statutory marital leave if they have completed the marriage registration procedure. A female employee who gives birth to a child in accordance with applicable provisions shall be entitled to an extended maternity leave of 60 days in addition to the national statutory maternity leave, while her husband shall be entitled to a paternity leave of 15 days. Beyond that, either of the couple shall be entitled to a parental leave of five business days every year until their child is three years old. In the event that an employee who is the only child to his/her parents needs time to take care of his/her parents, the employee shall be entitled to a caregiver's leave of 10 business days.

The types of leaves stipulated under the Regulations shall be applicable to any entity of any nature within the administrative jurisdiction of Beijing Municipality. Civil servants of government agencies at all levels of the central and municipal governments, employees of public institutions and other workers who have entered into labor contracts with other employers shall be entitled to such leaves.

Maternity leave for female employees

1. Composition

A female employee who has given birth shall be entitled to a maternity leave comprised of three parts.

The first part is the maternity leave under Special Provisions on Labor Protection for Female Employees, and it includes 98 days for natural labor, 15 additional days for difficult labor, and additional days for multiple births.

The second part relates to extended maternity leave under the Regulations, which further prolongs the extended maternity leave of 30 days under Amendment 2016 to 60 days.

The third part consists of the additional leave provided for under the Regulations. As stipulated in the Regulations, along with the additional leave under the Regulations amended in 2016, a female employee shall be entitled to a further leave of 1-3 months subject to approval by her employer. This leave may be taken in accordance with her employer's provisions or as agreed by the employee and her employer.

Each "day" mentioned herein refers to a calendar day.

In general, a female employee's maternity leave shall be taken on a continuous basis.

2. Treatment

A female employee shall be entitled to a childbirth allowance during the first part of her maternity leave, and it shall be paid by the healthcare insurance fund in view of the employer's previous-year monthly average wage if she is covered by a maternity insurance, or by her employer in view of her pre-leave wage if she is not covered by a maternity insurance.

A female employee shall be entitled to a 30-day childbirth allowance under Amendment 2016 during the second part of her maternity leave, and it shall still be paid by the healthcare insurance fund in alignment with the applicable childbirth allowance standard.

The newly-added 30-day childbirth allowance under the Regulations may be paid by her employer in alignment with the applicable childbirth allowance standard before the competent healthcare insurance authority issues a notice on how the payment is to be made.

It is advisable that the wage a female employee receives from her employer during the third part of her maternity leave be no less than 80% of the minimum wage of Beijing, subject to negotiation between the two parties.

3. Availability of extended maternity leave

The Regulations prolong the extended maternity leave from 30 days to 60 days, in place of the childbirth reward leave under Amendment 2016.

The revision shall become effective on November 26, 2021,

In the event that a female employee sees her maternity leave ended by the end of November 24, 2021, she shall not be entitled to the newly-added maternity leave under the Regulations;

In the event that a female employee's maternity leave is to be ended after the end of November 24, 2021, she shall be entitled to the newly-added maternity leave under the Regulations.

4. Transfer of a female employee's extended maternity leave to her husband

In the event that a female employee wishes to shorten the extended maternity leave to which she is entitled, her husband's paternity leave may be extended accordingly, provided that the couple's employers agree with such transfer.

It is advisable that employers improve their leave management systems in ways that allow for such transfer against the proofs issued by a couple's employers.

A male employee's paternity leave

1. Length

A male employee's paternity leave shall be 15 calendar days, and be taken on a continuous basis.

During a male employee's paternity leave, his employer shall in no way dismiss him, dissolve the labor or employment contract signed with him, or lower his wage.

A male employee shall be deemed as being at work while taking his paternity leave, and his employer shall pay his due labor remuneration.

3. Transfer of a male employee's paternity leave to his wife

Designed for a male employee to take care of his wife and newborn before, during and after his wife's delivery, a paternity leave may only be taken by a male employee, and may never be transferred to his wife even if he refuses to take it.

Parental leave

The parental leave under the Regulations is designed for a couple giving birth to a child in accordance with applicable provisions. Either of the couple shall be entitled to a parental leave of five business days every year until their child has reached three years of age.

Parental leave may be taken on a continuous basis or in parts.

The days of parental leave a couple shall be entitled to shall be determined as per the number of their children. For example, if the couple has two children younger than three years old, either of the couple shall be entitled to a parental leave of 10 business days every year; if the couple has three children younger than three years old, either of the couple shall be entitled to a parental leave of 15 business days every year.

2. Calculation of parental leave

A couple's parental leave shall be calculated as per their child's full years of life, rather than calendar years.

In general, every birthday of a child after his/her birth represents the time when he/she completes a full year of life, according to the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China.

For every full year of a child's life, either of his/her parents shall be entitled to a parental leave of five business days until he/she has reached three years of age.

In the event that an employee fails to take his/her annual parental leave, the parental leave will not be carried over to the next year.

For instance, if a child is born on June 1, 2021, either of his/her parents shall be entitled to a parental leave of 5 business days in each of the following periods: June 1, 2021-May 31, 2022, June 1, 2022-May 31, 2023, and June 1, 2023-May 31, 2024.

3. Remuneration

An employee shall be deemed as being at work while taking his/her parental leave, and his/her employer shall be required to provide remuneration accordingly.

4. Adjustment to the distribution of parental leave between a couple

In the event that a couple (with just one child) intends to redistribute parental leave between them, they shall negotiate with their respective employers, and may make such adjustment only if their respective employers are in agreement, provided that the total parental leave the couple takes shall not exceed 10 business days every year.

Caregiver's leave

In the event that an employee who is the only child to his/her parents has to take care of his/her parents, every year, the employee shall be entitled to a caregiver's leave of up to 10 business days, which may be taken on a continuous basis or in separate parts.

The aforementioned "year" refers to a calendar year.

An employee shall be deemed as being at work while taking his/her caregiver's leave, and his/her employer shall treat him/her as if he/she were at work.

3. Transfer of caregiver's leave between a couple

Caregiver's leave is only available to an only child who has to take care of his/her parents, and thus may not be transferred between a couple.

4. Ways to recognize an employee's need to take care of his/her parents

An employee's need to take care of his/her parents may be recognized by his/her employer through a medical certificate or hospitalization certificate issued by a medical institution or a disability certificate issued by a competent body. For this purpose, his/her employer may improve its leave management system.

5. Ways to recognize an employee's only-child status

"Only child" refers to the only living child a couple gave birth to or legally adopted within the period when China allowed couples to have just one child (before December 31, 2015). That means, an only child has no full-blood or half-blood brother or sister, or had brothers or sisters who died before December 31, 2015.

In the event that a couple giving birth to just one child divorces, the child is raised by and normally lives with one member of the couple upon the couple's agreement or a court judgment, and the party raising the child gives birth to no additional children while the other party of the couple gives birth to an additional child, the child may be deemed an only child if he/she applies to take care of the party who raised the child.

An employee may apply for caregiver's leave to take care of his/her stepfather or stepmother in the event that he/she is brought up by his/her stepfather or stepmother who has no biological child and he/she is the only child of his/her stepfather or stepmother.

An employee's only-child status may be recognized by his/her employer in view of his/her personal profile, resume or letter of undertaking, without a need for the presentation of Certificate of Honor for Parents of an Only Child.

The labor union or employee representatives of an employer may negotiate with the employer about how to put in place the aforesaid provisions on remuneration.

An employer shall put in place the provisions relating to days and remuneration for leave beyond the statutory marital leave, maternity leave beyond the statutory maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave and caregiver's leave under the Regulations, and shall in no way undermine the legal interests and rights of its employees, as what is provided for in the Regulations represents minimum leave standards.

An employer is encouraged to define days, remuneration and modes of leave in a more flexible way that better enables its employees to strike a balance between their work and families, without a need for consulting with or soliciting opinions from any competent administrative department.


(All information in this document is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only. In case of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.)

(Source: Beijing Daily APP)