[Webinar] How to Avoid Risks When Hiring Employees in China - Beijing Zhong Lun Law Firm Guangzhou Office 北京市中伦（广州）律师事务所

Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the PRC often encounter challenges about how to manage employment relationships due to cultural and legal differences.

Business operators are required to understand the right way to commence a successful working relationship under the Chinese law no matter whether they are hiring local or foreign staff. Therefore, having a well-drafted employment contract and company handbook, and knowing how to legally terminate an employment relationship, is critical to minimizing risks and costs for the company.

Labour costs are usually one of the most relevant costs for companies operating in the PRC. According to the new Regulations for the Implementation of the Individual Income Tax Law of the PRC (which came into force in January 2019), starting from 1 January 2022, foreign taxpayers will no longer enjoy the preferential policy of tax exemptions and the beneficial tax treatment for yearly bonuses. Such changes will lead to a significant increase in labour costs for companies operating in the PRC.

In light of the above, our webinar will cover but is not limited to the following:

• How to legally hire employees in the PRC?

• What is the difference between gross salary and company cost?

• How to calculate individual income tax under the current IIT policy?

• What impacts and challenges will the new IIT policy bring to the companies?

• How to reduce the risks of a labour dispute that a company may face when it terminates an employment relationship? 

• Under what conditions must the company pay an employee severance pay upon the employee’s termination of employment? 

• For what reasons can the company terminate an employee without paying the employee any severance pay?

• Case studies

In our webinar, experts from Zhong Lun Law Firm and Hawksford will discuss the questions mentioned above from legal and tax perspectives in order to help FIEs better navigate the booming Chinese market.

Included topics

• Commencement of employment relationship

• The importance of human resource management

• Current IIT policy and future changes

• Termination of employment relationship

Who should join?

The webinar is relevant for:

Foreign-invested enterprises from complete newcomers to those wishing to expand their existing operations in the Chinese market;

CFO, Finance Director, HR Director, Head of HR, HR Manager, People Manager, Payroll Manager, etc.

Event details

How to Avoid Labour Risks When Hiring Employees in China and the New IIT Reform

Date: Thursday, 27 May 2021

Time: 5:30pm (Beijing time)

Location: Online

Language: English

Cost: Free of charge (registration is required)

How to register

Scan or long press the QR code to register the webinar.

If you cannot use the QR code, please click here for registration.

Our speakers

Francesca Scortichini

Associate Director of Account Managemen, Hawksford

Francesca has considerable experience in advising Italian and international clients, from trading, retail and industrial companies on investments in the PRC and Asian area. Francesca joined Hawksford Shanghai office in June 2014. Prior to joining Hawksford she worked as tax consultant in Italian CPA firms and in the asset management department of International leading investment bank. Francesca graduated in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan in 2004 and is a professional Chartered Accountant in Italy.

Dario Marotta

Associate, Hawksford

Dario obtained his Master degree in Industrial Economics from North-western University (China). He is fluent in Mandarin, heads Hawksford Guangzhou and Shenzhen offices having been with Hawksford Guangzhou since 2016 where he’s part of the steering committee of the Network of Young Italian Professionals in the PRC.

Matthew Warr

Legal Consultant, Zhong Lun Law Firm

Matthew has a wealth of experience providing legal advice and services to international companies investing in or trading with the PRC. Matthew’s expertise includes corporate & commercial law, foreign direct investment, mergers & acquisitions, labour & employment, intellectual property, compliance & investigations, criminal defense, and litigation & arbitration. His clients are mainly multinational corporations and small-medium enterprises from various countries and regions around the world. Matthew is also a Board Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce (AustCham) South China.

About Zhong Lun Law Firm

Zhong Lun Law Firm is a market leading, full service Chinese law firm. Since its founding in 1993, Zhong Lun has become one of the largest law firms in the PRC, with 340+ partners and 2,100+ lawyers and professionals, including both recognized leaders in the Chinese legal profession and experienced senior lawyers from top international law firms.

Zhong Lun offers legal services across 28 core practice areas and maintains cooperative relationships with leading law firms in numerous countries and territories around the world for both inbound and outbound China-related matters. Zhong Lun is therefore well-positioned to provide clients with high quality legal services across a wide range of industries and sectors not only in the PRC, but also in more than 90 jurisdictions around the world.

About Hawksford

Hawksford is a leading provider of company formation, providing administration services and business support from small to medium-sized to large companies in Asia and Europe. We have more than 200 multilingual professionals in Asia and 450 globally, who are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, English, French, German, Spanish, Czech and Italian, based in the mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Jersey and Milan. Our people are experienced and highly qualified.