Guangdong eliminates ‘temporary worker’ contracts

Asian Labour News, 24 July 2004

On 22 July 2004, Guangdong announced that labour contracts will be standardised, which will eliminate the distinctions that currently exist between ‘temporary worker’ and ‘regular worker’ contracts. In many enterprises, contracts for temporary and regular workers are different and thus a means for employers to discriminate against migrant workers.

Guangdong has the highest number of migrant workers in China, currently standing at about 13 million. By standardising contracts, the provincial government believes that former discriminatory practices will cease. One of the problems under the old system was the difficulty of protecting migrant workers' legal rights and improving labour relations.

In the future, employers must use a standard contract, which clearly states wages, benefit, and insurance for all workers. There will be no distinctions between cadres and workers, temporary and regular, and so on.