Regulating Shared Employment in Post-Pandemic China

Abstract

During the pandemic, shared employment emerged as a market solution to balance the sudden imbalance in labor supply and demand. However, China’s current labor law system lacks clear and strong protection for shared employees, resulting in a mismatch with recent socioeconomic development. This paper highlights a fundamental issue in China’s labor law – the current regulatory system only recognizes the unitary employment relationship. This orientation deprives shared employees of full labor law protection under the protective principle. The paper analyzes two aspects of shared employment in China. First, it examines the evolution of the existing problematic labor law framework and why it fails to match China’s development. Second, this paper proposes basic principles for restructuring China’s labor law system to match its development. The paper concludes with three proposals, including theoretical and political repositioning towards the dual/multiple labor relations path, combining mandatory and autonomous norms to ensure worker protection, and safeguarding compensation for third parties.