History

The term ``collective agreement'' as used in this Law refers to a written
contract, concluded between an employer or an incorporated organization of
employers on one hand and an incorporated organization of workers on the other
hand for the purpose of specifying labor relations.
The following are also within the meaning of the labor relations as used in
this Law:
1. Apprentice relations;
2. Labor organization within an enterprise;
3. Utilization of employment agencies;
4. Establishment or utilization of labor dispute investigation or
arbitration
agencies.

If there are in a collective agreement provisions that deal with matters
beyond the scope of labor relations, this Law shall not apply to the said
matters.

An agency representing an organization of employers or workers shall not
conclude a collective agreement in the organization’s name unless it is
entitled to do so under a provision of the constitution of the organization or
a decision of a general meeting of its members or a general meeting of
members’ representatives, or under a special authorization in writing from
each and every member of the organization.
A collective agreement concluded in violation of the provisions of the
preceding paragraph shall not be valid unless it has been ratified by a
general meeting of the members of the organization.

Every collective agreement shall be submitted by either or both of the parties
to the competent authority for approval.
If the competent authority finds that any provision of the collective
agreement is contrary to law or regulations or incompatible with the
progress of the employer’ business or is not suited to ensure the maintenance
of the workers’ normal standard of living, the said provision shall be
cancelled or amended. The collective agreement may be approved after the
said cancellation or amendment, if the parties concerned agree thereto, and
the approved agreement shall become effective from the day immediately
following approval.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to alteration or
cancellation of a collective agreement.

When two or more collective agreements deal with the same labor relation and
there is no provision in any of these collective agreements as to priority
of application, the collective agreement affecting the smaller scope of
craft shall apply first; or, if the collective agreements are not on a craft
basis, the agreement covering a wider scope of area or greater number of
persons shall apply first.

If two or more Persons represent the employers as parties to a collective
agreement, these persons, in the absence of specific provisions, shall not
individually conclude any special agreement differing from the collective
agreement with any organization of workers.
Except the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the contracting parties to a
collective agreement independently acquire. The rights and perform the
duties thereunder.

Every employer bound by a collective agreement shall post up the text of the
agreement in a conspicuous position at the place of work.
Any employer who violates the provisions of the preceding paragraph may be
punished with a fine not exceeding 50 yuan.

It may be stipulated by a collective agreement that an employer shall employ
only the members of a particular organization of workers; provided, that the
employer shall not be subject to this restriction in the following cases:
1. If the workers’ organization concerned is dissolved;
2. If the workers' organization concerned is unable to supply the
specialized technical worker required by the employer;
3. If the available members of the workers’ organization are either
insufficient to meet the need of the employer or unwilling to accept
employment;
4. If the employer is engaging apprentices or miscellaneous hands;
5. If the employer is engaging persons to take charge of his financial
affairs, seals, correspondence or confidential documents:
6. If the number of workers other than members of the workers’
organization concerned employed by the employer has not yet
exceeded two-tenths of the total number excluding those under
subparagraph 4 and 5.

Any provision in a collective agreement that requires the employer to engage
workers in accordance with the priority set forth in a rotation-hire list of
the workers, organization shall be null and void.

It may be stipulated by a collective agreement that the employer shall
employ only the workers recommended by the workers’ organization; provided,
that any provision restricting the employer's discretion in accepting or
rejecting workers recommended shall be null and void. If the agreement accords
to the workers' organization the right of recommendation, it shall also be
stipulated that the employer may engage workers from sources other than the
workers’ organization in any case where the said organization fails to
recommend workers within one week from receipt of notice from the employer.

It may be stipulated by a collective agreement that the rare of wages shall be
raised or doubled when the employer require the workers to work or to continue
to work on holidays or outside the normal working hours; provided, that
overtime wages shall not exceed two times the normal wages arid, if in
excess there of, shall be deemed as two times the normal wages.

A collective agreement may provide for leave of absence from work for staff
members in active service of the workers’ organization to handle the
affairs of the organization; provided that the said leave shall not exceed
3O hours a month on the average.

Any provision in a collective agreement placing restrictions upon the employer
in respect of the use of a new type of machinery or the improvement of the
method of production or the purchase of refined or processed products shall be
null and void.

In the absence of specific restrictions in a collective agreement, the
following employers and workers shall be deemed to be concerned parties to .
a collective agreement and shall therefore be bound to conform to the
conditions of labor laid down by the agreement:
1. The employer who is one of the contracting parties to the collective
agreement;
2. All employers and workers who are members of the organizations
which are contracting parties to a collective agreement, and all
employers and workers who become members of the said organizations
at the time of or after the conclusion of the said agreement.

Except as otherwise provided in a collective agreement, its provisions
respecting conditions of labor shall be applicable to all persons who become
concerned parties to the agreement after its conclusion, as from the day of
their being qualified as such.

The status as concerned parties to a collective agreement as listed in each
item of paragraph 1of the preceding article shall terminate with the
termination of the said agreement. The concern-party status of the employers
or workers withdrawing from the organizations which are parties to the
collective agreement after the conclusion of the said agreement shall likewise
terminate with the termination of such agreement.

The conditions of labor laid down in a collective agreement shall as a
matter of course constitute part of a labor contract concluded between an
employer and a worker who are subject to the collective agreement. If any
provisions of such labor contract vary with the conditions of labor laid
down by the collective agreement, such provisions shall be null and void,
and shall be replaced by the pertinent provisions of the collective agreement;
provided, that the variances, if permissible by the collective agreement or
purported for the benefit of the workers and in the absence of express banning
provisions in the collective agreement, shall remain valid.

Upon expiration of a collective agreement arid before the conclusion of a
new collective agreement, the provisions of the original collective
agreement concerning labor conditions shall continue to constitute part of the
labor contract between the parties to the expired agreement until otherwise
provided by a 1abor contract.

If a party to a collective agreement waives hie rights enjoyed under the labor
contract which are derived from the collective agreement during the
continuation of the labor contract, such wavier shall be null and void;
provided, that such rights, if not exercised within three months from
termination of the labor contract, shall not be exercised.
Termination of a labor contract by employer subject to a collective
agreement by reason of the workers. maintaining the rights occasioned from the
collective agreement or the rights derived on the basis of such agreement.
shall be null and void.

If a party to a collective agreement violates any provision of the agreement
which does not relate to conditions of labor except as otherwise provided by a
collective agreement, the court may, upon application of the affected employer
or contracting party, impose a fine nor exceeding 500 yuan if the violator
is an employer and a fine not exceeding 50 yuan if the violator is a worker.
Fines as referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be used to promote the
welfare of workers.

A party to a collective agreement or his successor in rights shall not
resort to any combative practices to imperil the existence of the agreement or
of any of its provisions.
Every organization, which is a party to a collective agreement, shall be bound
to restrain its members from resorting to the practices mentioned in the
preceding paragraph and from violating any of the provisions of the
agreement.
A collective agreement may provide for the payment of a fixed amount of
compensation in lieu of damages by one contracting party to the other
contracting party in the event of the former’s failure to fulfill the
obligations as set forth in the agreement.
Except as specifically provided in this Law, the provisions of the Civil
Code shall govern the fulfillment of a collective agreement.

An organization which is a contracting party to a collective agreement may
claim damages in the name of the organization in case of breach of the
provisions of the agreement, regardless whether the breach ~~ committed by
an organization or by an individual who is its member or a member of another
organization.

An organization which is a party to a collective agreement may without any
special authorization institute all kinds of legal proceedings connected
with the collective agreement for and on behalf of any of its members;
provided, that the member in question has been given due notice thereof and
has not made any objection thereto.
If a member of an organization, which is a party to a collective agreement, is
a defendant in legal proceedings connected with the collective agreement,
the said organization may also intervene in the proceedings at any time

A collective agreement may be concluded for a fixed period or an indefinite
period or for the period of time necessary to complete certain work.

If a collective agreement is concluded for an indefinite period either of
the parties thereto may terminate the agreement any time after one year from
the conclusion of the agreement provided, that notice shall be given to the
other party in writing three months in advance.
If a collective agreement provides for a longer period of notice than that
specified in the preceding paragraph, such provision shall prevail.

if a collective agreement is concluded for a fixed period, the said period
shall not exceed three years and, if in excess thereof shall be deemed to be
concluded only for three years.

In the case of a collective agreement specifying one year as the term of
completion of certain work, if the said work is not completed within three
years, the collective agreement shall be deemed to have been concluded for a
term of three years.

Except as otherwise separately agreed upon, the rights and obligations under a
collective agreement of an organization which is a party to the agreement
shall, in the event of the amalgamation or division of the organization, be
transferred to the new organization organized due to the amalgamation or
division.
In the event of dissolution of an organization which is a party to a
collective agreement, the rights and obligations of individual members thereof
under the agreement shall remain valid despite the dissolution; provided, that
a collective agreement concluded for an indefinite period shall lose its
validity when the organization has been dissolved the term of notice expired.

In case of serious economic changes after the conclusion of a collective
agreement, if continuation of the said agreement is incompatib1e with the
progress of the employer’ business or with the maintenance of the workers’
original standard of living or if the conduct of the parties to the
agreement renders it hopeless to attain the original purpose of the agreement,
the competent authority may annul the agreement at the request of either of
the parties thereto.

Annulment of a collective agreement shall be binding on all the members of the
organizations which are parties thereto, irrespective of any stipulation to
the contrary.

The provisions of this Law shall apply as from the date of its coming into
force to every collective agreement concluded before the enforcement of this
Law.

The date of enforcement of this Law shall be prescribed by ordinance.