AnJie Broad Law Firm labour practice counts among the firms at the zenith of the PRC market. Many of its clients are long-standing, and the firm has built trusting and productive relationships with them over many years. Clients range across sectors from Standard Chartered to Universal Beijing Parks and Resorts. The firm provides a full employment law service covering disputes, HR matters and restructuring, wage negotiations, dismissals, union matters, compliance and trade secrets. Jun Shen, who oversees large scale restructuring projects and employee transfers, and Zhenghe Liu, who is highly experienced in labour dispute resolution, head the practice. They are supported by Lin Sun, Yana Cui and Samuel Yang. Associate Summer Cao represents clients in labour litigation and assists with a range of daily HR processes. She has advised some of the firm’s most high profile clients.

Fangda Partners supports its clients through HR management and policy implementation, arbitration, labour disputes, layoffs and immigration issues in China’s continually evolving employment market. Practice head Bo Zhou specialises in labour litigation and misconduct cases, as well as advising on employee transfer issues relating to mergers and other large transactions. Advising a large steel corporation on a significant factory relocation is an example of this work. Lisa Zhao is an experienced advisor on restructuring and policy implementation in the workplace. Ivan Su and James Hu practice in labour dispute resolution and arbitration. The firm’s list of large clients includes major hotel chain Hilton and business social media site LinkedIn.

With offices across China’s major centres including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzen and Guangzhou, JunHe LLP‘s employment law practice is a major presence in the market. Its lawyers advise some of the largest and well known multinational clients such as PepsiCo in both contentious and non-contentious matters. Hongjuan Bai advises on strategic workforce issues and the structure of employment relationships. Jianjun Ma is highly experienced in handling labour disputes, arbitration and litigation. Gordon (Minghao) Feng is well recommended by peers. His work includes regulatory compliance, contract formation, hiring, development of handbooks and policies, wage-and-hour compliance, employee transfers, mass layoffs, and terminations. Dongpeng Wang has a high degree of experience in trade union matters and collective bargaining.

Representing huge PRC clients such as China Chemical and Petroleum and multinationals including Volvo, Zhong Lun Law Firm is a go-to firm for employment law matters in the manufacturing and energy sectors in China. Carol Zhu is the leader of the labour practice, drawing on her previous experience working as a Head of HR for several large corporations advising on complex HR policy implementations. Her key areas of expertise also include employee transitions linked to mergers and acquisitions and mass redundancies. Haiyan Duan is another key name providing both advisory and dispute resolution services. Associate Jing Zeng has a notable specialism in employee disputes.

Led in Beijing by former judge Zhao Li, who specialises in terminations and labour dispute resolution, and in Shanghai by labour negotiation and dispute prevention specialist Weiwei Gu, Global Law Office‘s employment team offers a full range of labour law services to its corporate client base. The team advises on non-contentious matters including mass lay-offs as well as employment disputes; the latter including terminations which involve infringements of copyright and the right to reputation. Shujun Liu specifically represents Japanese companies operating in China and Chinese enterprises who operate in Japan; a uniquely tailored feature of the practice. Dingding Li is a dispute resolution specialist, working on terminations, incentive plans, training periods and non-compete clauses.

Han Kun Law Offices have a growing practice with branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzen and Hong Kong. The ‘versatile‘ and ‘user-friendly‘ team, led by Will Huang, who specialises in employment contractual disputes and who is also supported by experienced labour arbitrator Xiu Pei, focusses chiefly on employer-side work and often advises on high-profile management level matters. The practice works closely with the firm’s Intellectual Property team on such cases, which often involve non-compete clauses and other restrictive covenants. Lifeng Lu provides advice on employee compliance and lay-offs alongside his corporate and commercial practice.

Guangzhou based PW & Partners is a leading firm on the Pearl River and represents major clients across the Greater Bay Area. The firm regularly assists foreign companies to comply with PRC regulations and, as more multinationals looked for advice closer to their operations in the wake of the pandemic, it was in a position to support them. Non-compete cases, mass lay-offs and equity incentives are major areas of expertise for the firm. Practice head James Peng is an employment specialist with more than 20 years of experience who provides advice on mass lay-off risk control, employee relocations and top-level management turnover negotiations. He is supported by Ozzie Ou, who specialises in terminations involving foreign employees. Associates Vivi Chen and Sam Chen assist on many key matters.

Jincheng Tongda & Neal advises both employers and employees in a wide range of sectors and has a strong China regional coverage. It advises Chinese companies, including USA and European subsidiaries on all areas of labour and employment including all aspects of labour management and benefits and reaorganisations of work forces including ex-pat employees. Team head Feng Liang specialises in assisting clients with both national and global employment matters while Chunyun Pang's focus in on employment disputes including arbitration cases. 

Providing advice to a varied pool of clients ranging from Huawei to Princeton University Press, DaHui Lawyers has an accomplished labour and employment practice. Experienced litigator Xing Wan heads the team, frequently representing international clients in their disputes with high-level employees and advising on terminations, non-competition clauses and trade secrets issues. Joon Ho Tan is a crisis management specialist advising on strikes and work stoppages, whistleblowing and instances of serious non-compliance with company protocols.

DeHeng Law Offices‘ employment law team has long-standing relationships with a number of state-run enterprises in the financial and energy sectors, but is increasingly advising private multinationals as well. Partners Su Wenwei and Jianping Wang have backgrounds in human resources as well as law and have utilised this experience in their practice to assist with HR policy implementation and restructuring. The firm provides both labour disputes representation services and employment contractual advice.

Dentons China is a market mainstay; its offices across the country providing PRC employment advice. With branches from Kunming to Changchun, as well as in China’s major cities, it is well placed to keep apace with provincial differences in employment and employment-related regulations. Dianxu Jiang – who has a high degree of experience in collective disputes and the repositioning and relocation of employees – leads the practice. Joanie Zhang has a strong track record in labour disputes across multiple sectors including education, finance and heavy industry. Grace Young, who has a background in labour arbitrator, is an upcoming partner in the practice.

Jingtian & Gongcheng provides ongoing employment relationship advice to a range of clients. Trade secrets matters and restructuring are key areas of expertise. Youping Deng leads the practice, advising on labour regulatory compliance as well as providing representation for clients in disputes. He is supported by Xin Yu, who specialises in human resources matters. Wujie Xian, who has served as an arbitrator for the Shenzen Labor Arbitration Commission, is another key name.