Employers now required to provide counseling

Obligation under amended Women’s Protection Law

With increasing attention on the mental health of employees in China during zero-Covid and lockdowns, it’s notable that private employers were recently required by national law for the first time to provide counseling to employees.

The recently amended Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests states that employers are required to provide “psychological counseling” (心理疏导) to victims of sexual harassment. The obligation is one of many new requirements that employers are required to fulfill in order to prevent and address sexual harassment.

The specific obligations of employers are not stated. As a result, employers could likely fulfill their obligations by making on-staff counselors available, referring employees to third party counselors, or even possibly having non-professional staff as a resource for victims to talk with.

The law obligates employers to provide the counseling only “when necessary”, thereby giving employers a wide degree of discretion whether they in fact do offer the services. Moreover, given that there no administrative penalties for failing to offer the counseling, employers not complying at most could expect a visit from labor bureau authorities asking the employers to correct their practices. These employers could also receive negative public relations from employees who went public about their employers’ practices.

And how did this provision get into the new law?

At this point, it’s not clear. There was no such requirement in the previous draft of the law.