China does not grant sick leave by a number of days. It grants a medical treatment period — a window during which the employer cannot terminate the employment — and the length of that window depends on how long the worker has been employed, both in total and with the current employer. Within that window, sick pay varies by city, but there is a national floor: the wage cannot fall below 80% of the local minimum wage.

That combination of service-based duration, city-based pay rates, and a national minimum floor is where foreign employers get China wrong. They either apply a uniform 3-month cap that understates the entitlement in senior-tenure cases, or they pay sick leave at a flat percentage that ignores the 80% floor in low-wage cities. This guide walks through the medical treatment period table, the pay rules, and the provincial variations that matter.

Key takeaways

  • The medical treatment period ranges from 3 to 24 months, determined by the worker’s total years of service and years with the current employer, under the Regulations on the Medical Treatment Period for Enterprise Employees with Illness or Non-Work-Related Injuries (Lao Bu Fa [1994] 479).
  • During the medical treatment period, the employer must pay sick leave wages. The national floor is that sick pay cannot fall below 80% of the local minimum wage (Lao Bu Fa [1995] 309, Art. 59).
  • Beijing applies the 80%-of-minimum floor directly. Shenzhen requires at least 60% of the worker’s normal wage and at least 80% of the minimum wage. Shanghai uses a tiered scale by continuous service from 60% to 100%, with the same 80%-of-minimum floor.
  • After the medical treatment period expires, the employer may terminate the contract with severance pay, unless the illness is work-related.
  • State Council Order 777 abolished the 1951 Labour Insurance Regulations effective 1 May 2024, removing the old service-based sick pay scale that some employers still cite.

The medical treatment period

The core regulation is the Regulations on the Medical Treatment Period, issued under Lao Bu Fa [1994] 479 and effective from 1 January 1995. Article 3 sets out a table that maps total service years and current-employer service years to a medical treatment period:

Total service years Current-employer service years Medical treatment period
Under 10 years Under 5 years 3 months
Under 10 years 5 years or more 6 months
10–15 years Under 5 years 6 months
10–15 years 5–10 years 9 months
10–15 years 10–15 years 12 months
15–20 years Under 5 years 9 months
15–20 years 5–10 years 12 months
15–20 years 10–15 years 18 months
15–20 years 15–20 years 18 months
20 years or more Under 5 years 12 months
20 years or more 5–10 years 18 months
20 years or more 10–15 years 24 months
20 years or more 15–20 years 24 months
20 years or more 20 years or more 24 months

The medical treatment period is the window during which the employer may not terminate the employment contract for illness-related inability to work. Article 4 of the Regulations specifies how the period is calculated: a 3-month period is累计 (cumulative) over 6 months; 6 months over 12 months; 9 months over 15 months; and so on. This means the medical treatment period is not necessarily a continuous block — it is measured against a reference window.

What happens after the period ends

When the medical treatment period expires and the worker has not recovered:

  • If the worker cannot perform their original role or any role the employer reasonably assigns, the employer may terminate the contract — but must pay ** severance pay** (one month’s wages per year of service under the Labour Contract Law, Art. 46) and a medical补助费 (medical subsidy), the amount of which is set by local regulation.
  • If the worker is assessed as having lost 1–40% of their labour capacity, they may be eligible for disability benefits under the social insurance system rather than termination.

The employer cannot simply let the medical treatment period expire and terminate without following the severance and medical subsidy requirements. Doing so is an unlawful termination that labour arbitration panels will reverse.

What the employer pays during the medical treatment period

The national rule is in Article 59 of the Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of the Labour Law (Lao Bu Fa [1995] 309):

During the period when an employee is ill or non-work-related injured, the enterprise shall pay their sick leave wage or disease relief fee according to the relevant provisions during the prescribed medical care leave. The sick leave wage or disease relief fee may be paid at a rate lower than the local minimum wage standard, but not at a rate lower than 80% of the minimum wage standard.

This sets the national floor at 80% of the local minimum wage. Below that, the employer is non-compliant regardless of what the worker’s contract says. Above that, local rules determine the actual rate.

Provincial and municipal variations

China’s sick pay landscape is fragmented. The national floor is 80% of minimum wage, but the actual rate a worker receives depends on which city they work in. Three of the most common configurations for foreign employers:

Beijing

Beijing applies the national floor directly. The sick leave wage is the worker’s regular wage, subject to a floor of 80% of the Beijing minimum wage. There is no separate tiered scale by service length — the 80%-of-minimum rule is the operative constraint.

For a worker earning below 80% of the minimum wage, the employer must top up to the floor. For a worker earning above it, the contract or company policy determines the actual rate, which in practice is often 60–100% of the worker’s regular wage depending on the medical treatment period’s累计 duration.

Shenzhen

Shenzhen’s Regulations on Medical Care Leave for Enterprise Employees with Illness or Non-Work-Related Injuries set two conditions that must both be met:

  • Sick leave wage must be at least 60% of the worker’s normal working-time wage.
  • Sick leave wage must be at least 80% of the Shenzhen minimum wage.

The higher of the two applies. For a worker on a high salary, the 60%-of-wage rule binds; for a worker on a low salary, the 80%-of-minimum rule binds. The employer must check both.

Shanghai

Shanghai uses a tiered scale based on continuous service, set by the Shanghai Municipal Labour Bureau Notice on the Calculation of Sick Leave Wages (Hu Lao Bao Fa [95] No. 83):

Continuous service with employer Sick leave wage rate
Under 2 years 60% of regular wage
2–4 years 70% of regular wage
4–6 years 80% of regular wage
6–8 years 90% of regular wage
8 years or more 100% of regular wage

In all cases, the rate cannot fall below 80% of the Shanghai minimum wage. Shanghai is the only major city that explicitly ties the sick pay rate to the worker’s tenure with the employer in this way.

Note: The Shanghai tiered table is widely cited in practitioner guides and has been applied by Shanghai labour arbitration panels, but a single official Shanghai government URL hosting the full table could not be located during research. Treat the specific percentages as established practice confirmed by legal commentary rather than a directly government-published schedule.

The 2024 abolition of the old Labour Insurance Regulations

On 10 March 2024, the State Council issued Order 777, abolishing 13 administrative regulations including the 1951 Labour Insurance Regulations (劳动保险条例). The abolition took effect on 1 May 2024.

This matters because the 1951 Regulations contained a service-based sick pay scale ranging from 60% to 100% of wages, which some employers — particularly state-owned enterprises and older joint ventures — still referenced in their internal policies. With the Regulations formally abolished, that scale no longer has legal force. The operative sick pay rules are now those set out in Lao Bu Fa [1995] 309 and the local regulations discussed above.

Employers whose policies still cite the 1951 Regulations’ pay scale should update them to reference the current framework.

If the illness or injury arises from a work-related cause, the ordinary sick leave regime does not apply. Instead:

  • The worker is covered by work injury insurance (工伤保险) under the Social Insurance Law.
  • The employer pays full medical costs and wage replacement through the work injury insurance fund.
  • The employer may not terminate the contract during the treatment period.
  • After treatment, if the worker is assessed as having a disability, the work injury insurance fund pays a disability benefit based on the assessed level.

Misclassifying a work injury as ordinary illness is one of the most consequential errors an employer can make in China. The wage obligation, the termination protection, and the insurance coverage all change.

Common employer mistakes

1. Applying a flat 3-month sick leave cap

The medical treatment period ranges from 3 to 24 months depending on service. A worker with 20 years of total service and 15 years with the current employer has a 24-month window. Applying a uniform 3-month cap to such a worker is unlawful termination if exercised before the period expires.

2. Paying below the 80% floor

A worker earning RMB 3,000 per month in a city with a minimum wage of RMB 2,500 cannot receive less than RMB 2,000 (80% of RMB 2,500) during sick leave, even if the contract specifies a lower rate. The 80% floor overrides contractual terms.

3. Ignoring provincial variations

A worker in Shanghai on 4 years of service should receive 80% of their regular wage during sick leave, not the 60% that a Beijing-based policy might specify. Applying one city’s rules to another city’s workers produces systematic underpayment.

4. Terminating immediately after the medical treatment period

The employer must follow the termination procedure: offer a different role first, and if the worker cannot perform any reasonable assignment, terminate with severance and the medical subsidy. Skipping these steps is unlawful termination.

5. Treating work injury as ordinary illness

Work injury insurance covers the medical costs and wage replacement for work-related illness. Routing it through ordinary sick leave leaves the benefit unclaimed and the cost on the employer.

Frequently asked questions

How long is sick leave in China?

The medical treatment period ranges from 3 to 24 months, determined by the worker’s total years of service and years with the current employer, under the Regulations on the Medical Treatment Period (Lao Bu Fa [1994] 479).

What is the minimum sick pay in China?

The national floor is 80% of the local minimum wage. Some cities set higher floors or use a different calculation base — Shenzhen requires at least 60% of the worker’s normal wage, and Shanghai tiers the rate by service length.

Can an employee be fired while on sick leave?

Not during the medical treatment period. After the period expires, the employer may terminate if the worker cannot perform their original role or any reasonably assigned role, but must pay severance and a medical subsidy.

Does sick leave carry over in China?

The medical treatment period is a one-time window per illness episode, not an annual balance. There is no annual accrual or carry-forward in the way that annual leave works. The period is defined by the worker’s service profile at the time illness begins.

What happened to the old 1951 Labour Insurance Regulations?

State Council Order 777 abolished them effective 1 May 2024. The old service-based sick pay scale (60–100%) no longer has legal force. The current framework is Lao Bu Fa [1995] 309 and local regulations.

Is a medical certificate required?

Yes. The worker must provide a medical certificate from a designated hospital or clinic. The specific hospital requirements vary by city — Beijing, for example, requires certificates from hospitals at or above the district level.

Putting it into practice

Five checks cover most China sick leave risk:

  1. Determine the worker’s medical treatment period using the service-length table at the point illness begins — do not apply a flat cap.
  2. Apply the city-specific sick pay rule for the worker’s location: Beijing’s 80%-of-minimum floor, Shenzhen’s dual condition, or Shanghai’s tiered scale.
  3. Verify that the sick pay rate never falls below 80% of the local minimum wage, regardless of what the contract or company policy says.
  4. Distinguish work injury from ordinary illness at the point of diagnosis and route each to the correct insurance regime.
  5. After the medical treatment period expires, follow the termination procedure — offer alternative roles first, then terminate with severance and the medical subsidy.
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China’s sick leave system is not one rule but a matrix: a national duration table, a national pay floor, and city-specific pay rates layered on top. A leave system that models the medical treatment period by service length, applies the correct city’s pay rule, and enforces the 80% floor keeps the employer compliant in a landscape where a single misapplied rule produces reinstatement orders.

Sources

Last updated: 26 July 2026. This article is general guidance, not legal advice. China’s sick leave rules vary significantly by province and municipality — confirm the applicable local regulation for each worker’s location. For work injury classification or termination cases, consult a PRC-qualified employment lawyer.