Firms Quietly Told Not to Worry about China's Labor Law

At Danwei, Peter Ford, the Christian Science Monitor's Beijing bureau chief, is quoted as saying:

I have heard, though not been able to confirm, that provincial governments have been quietly telling employers for several months that if they do not abide by the provisions of the Labor Contract Law they need not worry, and this seems perfectly plausible.

A lot of employers have been complaining for a year or so that the labor law, along with the rising value of the RMB until last July, was a major factor in making them uncompetitive.

That may be true of the low margin, low quality producers, and while the government clearly did not mind driving them out of business last year (so as to move China’s economy up the value chain) such firms do at least offer jobs while they are still in business, and jobs are going to be in short supply this year. 

To read more:

http://www.danwei.org/foreign_media_on_china/peter_ford_interview.php