Recently, after a cleaner was terminated by her employer, she filed a lawsuit against the company asking for a double payment of her salary, since the employer failed to set up a written employment contract. Nevertheless, the company contended that there is a collective employment contract concluded between the company and the labor union on behalf of all the employees. This collective employment contract contains provisions regarding many aspects of the employment relationship between the company and its employees, such as the cleaner’s job duties, salary and benefit, labor hygiene and safety, termination and more. The company insisted that this collective employment contract shall be regarded as the written employment contract between the cleaner and the company. However, the court finally rejected such argumentation and concluded that a specific written employment contract between the company and the individual employee shall not be replaced by a collective employment contract.
China