Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I)
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I)
[Lexis China Comments]
According to the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (II) (Fa Shi [2025] No. 12), Paragraph 1 of Article 32 has been repealed.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I)
Fa Shi [2020] No.26
December 29, 2020
The Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I), which was adopted at the 1825th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on December 25, 2020, is hereby promulgated and shall come into effect as of January 1, 2021.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I)
(Adopted at the 1825th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on December 25, 2020 and effective as of January 1, 2021)
In accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the Labor Law of the People's Republic of China, the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and in connection with trial practice, this Interpretation is formulated with a view to correctly trying labor dispute cases.
Article 1 The following disputes between laborers and their employers belong to labor disputes. If a party concerned objects to an award made by a labor dispute arbitration institution and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall accept it:
1. disputes between laborers and their employers in the process of performing labor contracts;
2. disputes arising after the formation of a labor relationship though there is no written labor contract between laborers and their employers;
3. disputes arising from whether labor relationships between laborers and their employers have been cancelled or terminated and whether economic compensation should be paid for the said cancellation or termination of labor relationships;
4. disputes arising from laborers' requests for the return of the labor contract deposits, securities, security deposits, or collaterals which their employers have charged, or disputes arising from the handling of formalities for the transfer of laborers' personnel archives, social insurance relationships or other matters after the laborers have cancelled or terminated labor relationships with their employers;
5. disputes arising from laborers' demand for compensation for losses from their employers on the grounds that the employers have failed to go through social insurance formalities for them and social insurance handling agencies cannot make up for such formalities so that they cannot enjoy social insurance benefits;
6. disputes arising from laborers' claim to their former employers which have not participated in social insurance pooling for paying their pensions, medical expenses, work-related injury insurance benefits and other social insurance benefits after the laborers have retired;
7. disputes arising from laborers' requests for the work-related injury insurance benefits provided by their employers due to work-related injuries and occupational diseases in accordance with the law;
8. disputes arising from laborers' demand for payment of additional damages from their employers in accordance with Article 85 of the Labor Contract Law; and
9. disputes arising from the own restructuring of enterprises.
Article 2 The following disputes do not belong to labor disputes:
1. disputes arising from laborers' requests for social insurance payments from social insurance handling agencies;
2. disputes over the transfer of public housing between laborers and their employers which result from housing system reform;
3. disputes arising from laborers' objection to any conclusion on disability grade appraisal made by labor ability appraisal committees or any conclusion on occupational disease diagnosis appraisal made by occupational disease diagnosis appraisal committees;
4. disputes between families or individuals and their domestic service personnel;
5. disputes between individual craftsmen and their helpers, apprentices; and
6. disputes between leaseholding rural households and their employees.
Article 3 Labor dispute cases shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the grassroots people's courts at the place where employers are located or where the labor contracts are performed.
If the place of performance of a labor contract is not clear, the case of dispute over such labor contract shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the grassroots people's court at the place where the employer concerned is located.
Where there are separate provisions in any law, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 4 If both laborer and employer object to the same award made by a labor dispute arbitration institution and file lawsuits with the same people's court, the people's court shall merge the cases for trial, in which case the two parties concerned mutually serve as plaintiff and defendant, the people's court shall combine the claims of the two parties and make an award. If, in the course of lawsuit, one party withdraws its lawsuit, the people's court shall continue case trial according to the claims of the other party. If both parties respectively file lawsuits with the people's courts which have jurisdiction over the same arbitration award, the people's court that accepts the case later shall transfer the case to the people's court that accepts the case first.
Article 5 If a labor dispute arbitration institution refuses to accept a labor dispute case on the grounds that it has no jurisdiction over the said case and the party concerned files a lawsuit for such refusal of acceptance, the people's court shall handle the case respectively according to the following circumstances:
1. notifying the party concerned to apply to the labor dispute arbitration institution with jurisdiction for arbitration, if upon examination it considers that the labor dispute arbitration institution under lawsuit has no jurisdiction over the case; or
2. notifying the party concerned to apply for arbitration and informing the labor dispute arbitration institution under lawsuit its examination opinion in writing, if upon examination it considers that the labor dispute arbitration institution under lawsuit has jurisdiction over the case; if the said labor dispute arbitration institution still refuses to accept the case and the party concerned file a lawsuit over the said matter of labor dispute, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 6 If a labor dispute arbitration institution makes a written award, decision or notice of non-acceptance on the grounds that the matter applied for arbitration by a party concerned does not belong to a labor dispute, and the party concerned objects to such award, decision or notice and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall distinguish the circumstances and handle them accordingly:
1. accepting it, if it is a labor dispute case; or
2. accepting it in accordance with the law, if it belongs to another type of case under the jurisdiction of the people's court though it is not a labor dispute case.
Article 7 If a labor dispute arbitration institution makes a written award, decision or notice of non-acceptance on the grounds that the subject applying for arbitration is not qualified, but the party concerned objects to such award, decision or notice and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall not accept the case, if, upon examination, the applying subject is found to be indeed not qualified; if it has already been accepted, the people's court shall rule to reject the lawsuit.
Article 8 If a labor dispute arbitration institution makes an award again in order to correct any error in its original arbitration award, but a party concerned objects to it and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 9 If a matter to be arbitrated by a labor dispute arbitration institution does not fall within the scope of cases accepted by the people's court, but a party concerned has objection and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall not accept it; if it has already been accepted, the people's court shall rule to reject the lawsuit.
Article 10 If a party concerned objects to an award made by a labor dispute arbitration institution on the advance payment of labor remuneration, medical expenses for work-related injury, economic compensation or damages for a laborer, and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall not accept it.
If the employer concerned fails to perform the payment obligation as prescribed in the above award and the laborer concerned applies for compulsory execution in accordance with the law, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 11 If the mediation statement made by a labor dispute arbitration institution has taken legal effect, but one party concerned goes back on its promise and files a lawsuit, the people's court shall not accept it; if it has already been accepted, the people's court shall rule to reject the lawsuit.
Article 12 If a labor dispute arbitration institution fails to make a decision on acceptance or an arbitration award within the specified time limit, and the party concerned directly files a lawsuit, the people's court shall accept it, except where any of the following reasons exists in the case applied for arbitration:
1. being transferred to jurisdiction;
2. being served or being delayed in serving;
3. waiting for the lawsuit result of another case, or the conclusion on disability appraisal;
4. waiting for the start of hearing by a labor dispute arbitration institution;
5. starting the appraisal procedure or entrusting another department to investigate and collect evidence; or
6. having other justifiable reasons.
If a party concerned files a lawsuit on the grounds that the labor dispute arbitration institution has failed to make an arbitration award within the specified time limit, it shall submit the notice of acceptance, or other certificate or proof of acceptance of the application for arbitration issued by the said arbitration institution.
Article 13 If a laborer applies to the people's court for an order of payment in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 30 of the Labor Contract Law and Article 16 of the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes and such application conforms to the supervision and urging procedure specified in Chapter 17 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall accept it.
If a laborer directly files a lawsuit over a matter of labor dispute after the supervision and urging procedure for its application for the order of payment has been ruled to terminate by the people's court in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 30 of the Labor Contract Law, the people's court shall notify the said laborer to apply to the labor dispute arbitration institution for arbitration first.
If a laborer directly files a lawsuit in accordance with its mediation agreement after the supervision and urging procedure for its application for the order of payment has been ruled to terminate by the people's court in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 14 If, after a people's court has accepted a labor dispute case, the party concerned adds a claim, and the said claim is inseparable from the labor dispute under lawsuit, the people's court shall include it in the trial; if it is an independent labor dispute, the people's court shall inform the said party to apply to the labor dispute arbitration institution for arbitration.
Article 15 If a laborer files a lawsuit directly on the evidence of a salary IOU issued by its employer and the claims made by the said laborer do not involve other disputes over labor relationship, it shall be deemed as a dispute over arrears of labor remuneration, in which case the people's court shall accept it as an ordinary civil dispute.
Article 16 If, after an arbitration award has been made by a labor dispute arbitration institution, a party concerned objects to some of the matters in the said award and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the said labor dispute arbitration award shall not take legal effect.
Article 17 If, after a labor dispute arbitration institution has made an arbitration award on the labor disputes of several laborers, some laborers object to the said arbitration award and file lawsuits in accordance with the law, the said arbitration award shall not take legal effect on those laborers who have filed lawsuits; but such award will take legal effect on those laborers who have not filed lawsuits, and if any of them applies for execution, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 18 The type of arbitration award shall be subject to that specified in the arbitration award. If an arbitration award does not specify that the said award is final or non-final, and the employer concerned objects to the said arbitration award and files a lawsuit with the grassroots people's court, it shall be handled respectively according to the following circumstances:
1. the grassroots people's court shall accept the lawsuit, if upon examination it deems the said arbitration award as non-final; or
2. the grassroots people's court shall not accept the lawsuit, if upon examination it deems the said arbitration award as final, in which case it shall notify the employer concerned that it may, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the ruling of non-acceptance, apply to the intermediate people's court at the place where the labor dispute arbitration institution is located for cancellation of the said arbitration award; if the lawsuit has already been accepted, the grassroots people's court shall rule to reject it.
......
According to the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (II) (Fa Shi [2025] No. 12), Paragraph 1 of Article 32 has been repealed.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I)
Fa Shi [2020] No.26
December 29, 2020
The Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I), which was adopted at the 1825th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on December 25, 2020, is hereby promulgated and shall come into effect as of January 1, 2021.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I)
(Adopted at the 1825th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on December 25, 2020 and effective as of January 1, 2021)
In accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the Labor Law of the People's Republic of China, the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and in connection with trial practice, this Interpretation is formulated with a view to correctly trying labor dispute cases.
Article 1 The following disputes between laborers and their employers belong to labor disputes. If a party concerned objects to an award made by a labor dispute arbitration institution and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall accept it:
1. disputes between laborers and their employers in the process of performing labor contracts;
2. disputes arising after the formation of a labor relationship though there is no written labor contract between laborers and their employers;
3. disputes arising from whether labor relationships between laborers and their employers have been cancelled or terminated and whether economic compensation should be paid for the said cancellation or termination of labor relationships;
4. disputes arising from laborers' requests for the return of the labor contract deposits, securities, security deposits, or collaterals which their employers have charged, or disputes arising from the handling of formalities for the transfer of laborers' personnel archives, social insurance relationships or other matters after the laborers have cancelled or terminated labor relationships with their employers;
5. disputes arising from laborers' demand for compensation for losses from their employers on the grounds that the employers have failed to go through social insurance formalities for them and social insurance handling agencies cannot make up for such formalities so that they cannot enjoy social insurance benefits;
6. disputes arising from laborers' claim to their former employers which have not participated in social insurance pooling for paying their pensions, medical expenses, work-related injury insurance benefits and other social insurance benefits after the laborers have retired;
7. disputes arising from laborers' requests for the work-related injury insurance benefits provided by their employers due to work-related injuries and occupational diseases in accordance with the law;
8. disputes arising from laborers' demand for payment of additional damages from their employers in accordance with Article 85 of the Labor Contract Law; and
9. disputes arising from the own restructuring of enterprises.
Article 2 The following disputes do not belong to labor disputes:
1. disputes arising from laborers' requests for social insurance payments from social insurance handling agencies;
2. disputes over the transfer of public housing between laborers and their employers which result from housing system reform;
3. disputes arising from laborers' objection to any conclusion on disability grade appraisal made by labor ability appraisal committees or any conclusion on occupational disease diagnosis appraisal made by occupational disease diagnosis appraisal committees;
4. disputes between families or individuals and their domestic service personnel;
5. disputes between individual craftsmen and their helpers, apprentices; and
6. disputes between leaseholding rural households and their employees.
Article 3 Labor dispute cases shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the grassroots people's courts at the place where employers are located or where the labor contracts are performed.
If the place of performance of a labor contract is not clear, the case of dispute over such labor contract shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the grassroots people's court at the place where the employer concerned is located.
Where there are separate provisions in any law, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 4 If both laborer and employer object to the same award made by a labor dispute arbitration institution and file lawsuits with the same people's court, the people's court shall merge the cases for trial, in which case the two parties concerned mutually serve as plaintiff and defendant, the people's court shall combine the claims of the two parties and make an award. If, in the course of lawsuit, one party withdraws its lawsuit, the people's court shall continue case trial according to the claims of the other party. If both parties respectively file lawsuits with the people's courts which have jurisdiction over the same arbitration award, the people's court that accepts the case later shall transfer the case to the people's court that accepts the case first.
Article 5 If a labor dispute arbitration institution refuses to accept a labor dispute case on the grounds that it has no jurisdiction over the said case and the party concerned files a lawsuit for such refusal of acceptance, the people's court shall handle the case respectively according to the following circumstances:
1. notifying the party concerned to apply to the labor dispute arbitration institution with jurisdiction for arbitration, if upon examination it considers that the labor dispute arbitration institution under lawsuit has no jurisdiction over the case; or
2. notifying the party concerned to apply for arbitration and informing the labor dispute arbitration institution under lawsuit its examination opinion in writing, if upon examination it considers that the labor dispute arbitration institution under lawsuit has jurisdiction over the case; if the said labor dispute arbitration institution still refuses to accept the case and the party concerned file a lawsuit over the said matter of labor dispute, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 6 If a labor dispute arbitration institution makes a written award, decision or notice of non-acceptance on the grounds that the matter applied for arbitration by a party concerned does not belong to a labor dispute, and the party concerned objects to such award, decision or notice and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall distinguish the circumstances and handle them accordingly:
1. accepting it, if it is a labor dispute case; or
2. accepting it in accordance with the law, if it belongs to another type of case under the jurisdiction of the people's court though it is not a labor dispute case.
Article 7 If a labor dispute arbitration institution makes a written award, decision or notice of non-acceptance on the grounds that the subject applying for arbitration is not qualified, but the party concerned objects to such award, decision or notice and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall not accept the case, if, upon examination, the applying subject is found to be indeed not qualified; if it has already been accepted, the people's court shall rule to reject the lawsuit.
Article 8 If a labor dispute arbitration institution makes an award again in order to correct any error in its original arbitration award, but a party concerned objects to it and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 9 If a matter to be arbitrated by a labor dispute arbitration institution does not fall within the scope of cases accepted by the people's court, but a party concerned has objection and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall not accept it; if it has already been accepted, the people's court shall rule to reject the lawsuit.
Article 10 If a party concerned objects to an award made by a labor dispute arbitration institution on the advance payment of labor remuneration, medical expenses for work-related injury, economic compensation or damages for a laborer, and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the people's court shall not accept it.
If the employer concerned fails to perform the payment obligation as prescribed in the above award and the laborer concerned applies for compulsory execution in accordance with the law, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 11 If the mediation statement made by a labor dispute arbitration institution has taken legal effect, but one party concerned goes back on its promise and files a lawsuit, the people's court shall not accept it; if it has already been accepted, the people's court shall rule to reject the lawsuit.
Article 12 If a labor dispute arbitration institution fails to make a decision on acceptance or an arbitration award within the specified time limit, and the party concerned directly files a lawsuit, the people's court shall accept it, except where any of the following reasons exists in the case applied for arbitration:
1. being transferred to jurisdiction;
2. being served or being delayed in serving;
3. waiting for the lawsuit result of another case, or the conclusion on disability appraisal;
4. waiting for the start of hearing by a labor dispute arbitration institution;
5. starting the appraisal procedure or entrusting another department to investigate and collect evidence; or
6. having other justifiable reasons.
If a party concerned files a lawsuit on the grounds that the labor dispute arbitration institution has failed to make an arbitration award within the specified time limit, it shall submit the notice of acceptance, or other certificate or proof of acceptance of the application for arbitration issued by the said arbitration institution.
Article 13 If a laborer applies to the people's court for an order of payment in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 30 of the Labor Contract Law and Article 16 of the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes and such application conforms to the supervision and urging procedure specified in Chapter 17 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall accept it.
If a laborer directly files a lawsuit over a matter of labor dispute after the supervision and urging procedure for its application for the order of payment has been ruled to terminate by the people's court in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 30 of the Labor Contract Law, the people's court shall notify the said laborer to apply to the labor dispute arbitration institution for arbitration first.
If a laborer directly files a lawsuit in accordance with its mediation agreement after the supervision and urging procedure for its application for the order of payment has been ruled to terminate by the people's court in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 14 If, after a people's court has accepted a labor dispute case, the party concerned adds a claim, and the said claim is inseparable from the labor dispute under lawsuit, the people's court shall include it in the trial; if it is an independent labor dispute, the people's court shall inform the said party to apply to the labor dispute arbitration institution for arbitration.
Article 15 If a laborer files a lawsuit directly on the evidence of a salary IOU issued by its employer and the claims made by the said laborer do not involve other disputes over labor relationship, it shall be deemed as a dispute over arrears of labor remuneration, in which case the people's court shall accept it as an ordinary civil dispute.
Article 16 If, after an arbitration award has been made by a labor dispute arbitration institution, a party concerned objects to some of the matters in the said award and files a lawsuit in accordance with the law, the said labor dispute arbitration award shall not take legal effect.
Article 17 If, after a labor dispute arbitration institution has made an arbitration award on the labor disputes of several laborers, some laborers object to the said arbitration award and file lawsuits in accordance with the law, the said arbitration award shall not take legal effect on those laborers who have filed lawsuits; but such award will take legal effect on those laborers who have not filed lawsuits, and if any of them applies for execution, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 18 The type of arbitration award shall be subject to that specified in the arbitration award. If an arbitration award does not specify that the said award is final or non-final, and the employer concerned objects to the said arbitration award and files a lawsuit with the grassroots people's court, it shall be handled respectively according to the following circumstances:
1. the grassroots people's court shall accept the lawsuit, if upon examination it deems the said arbitration award as non-final; or
2. the grassroots people's court shall not accept the lawsuit, if upon examination it deems the said arbitration award as final, in which case it shall notify the employer concerned that it may, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the ruling of non-acceptance, apply to the intermediate people's court at the place where the labor dispute arbitration institution is located for cancellation of the said arbitration award; if the lawsuit has already been accepted, the grassroots people's court shall rule to reject it.
......