1. Classify the request before deciding whether to approve it
Ask for the requested dates, the general reason and any information needed to identify the applicable leave category. Illness, maternity, marriage, bereavement or locally regulated family-care leave may require a different assessment. An employee ticking “unpaid personal leave” in the global HR system does not waive a statutory entitlement. Obtain only material needed for the decision, rather than collecting a broad family or medical history.
The PRC Labor Contract Law does not give every employee a uniform annual quota of ordinary personal leave. Review applicable local rules, the employment and collective contracts, and the employer’s leave policy. Article 4 governs the democratic procedure and communication required for rules on leave and other employee interests. A global policy or a manager’s preference alone does not establish the China entity’s applicable rule; an existing contractual promise must also be considered.
2. Give a clear, documented decision and define the period
For a genuinely discretionary request, assess the employee’s explanation, operational coverage, existing promises and comparable decisions. Confirm approval, refusal or a proposed alternative in writing, with reasons where appropriate. Pending review is not the same as approval. For an urgent event, provide a practical channel to explain the circumstances and supplement necessary evidence; do not let an unanswered workflow become the whole decision record.
An approval should identify the China employer, start and end dates, affected scheduled working days or hours, return date and place, handover, contact person and extension procedure. Distinguish the calendar span from the time for which pay is adjusted. For a longer arrangement that changes contractual terms, Article 35 requires agreement and a written contract change, with a copy for each party. Do not describe the leave as ending employment or automatically restarting service on return.
3. Explain the payroll treatment before the absence starts
Check the applicable local wage rules and any more favourable contractual or policy commitment. For example, Article 22 of the Beijing Provisions on Wage Payment permits an employer not to pay wages for personal leave. This is a Beijing rule, not a nationwide instruction to erase an entire month’s pay. Identify the relevant pay components, actual leave time and lawful calculation method, and retain a calculation that payroll and the employee can understand.
Approved personal leave does not authorize an additional punitive wage deduction. Pay remuneration that remains due on time under Labor Contract Law Article 30. Keep statutory paid leave and any work actually required during the period separately identified. Confirm how benefits and social-insurance administration will be handled under the applicable rules; “no salary” alone is not a sufficient instruction to stop every employment-related obligation.
4. Keep the annual-leave test separate
Article 4(2) of the Regulation on Paid Annual Leave for Employees requires two conditions together: personal leave totalling at least 20 days, and no wage deduction by the employer in accordance with the applicable rules. Only then does this particular exclusion from that year’s annual leave apply. Personal leave for which the relevant wages are deducted does not, merely because it reaches 20 days, satisfy that exclusion. Other statutory exclusions and any more favourable entitlements still need separate review.
Article 8 of the Enterprise Measures addresses an employee who has already taken that year’s annual leave and subsequently meets an Article 4(2)–(5) exclusion during the same year: the next year’s annual leave is unavailable under that rule. Record the timing and wage treatment before applying it. If some requested dates will instead be annual leave, make that scheduling decision clear under Article 9 and pay accordingly; do not both treat the same time as unpaid personal leave and deduct it from the annual-leave balance.
5. Close the approval with a workable return plan
Before leave ends, confirm whether the employee will return as agreed and whether an extension request raises a new statutory leave issue. Record any approved change. If the employee does not return, verify the explanation, contact and actual work arrangements before considering attendance measures. A missed return date is not automatically a resignation; any dismissal requires its own lawful ground, evidence and procedure.
Prepare the request and replies, applicable contracts and policy version, adoption and communication records, approval authority, work schedule, leave ledger, payroll calculation, handover and return confirmation. These records should show the same leave category and dates across HR and payroll. For an initial review, give the China entity, city, requested period and proposed pay treatment; detailed employee documents can follow through an agreed confidential channel.
Legal sources
Official sources · Checked 2026-11-03. Translations are for reference and are not official legal texts.
- PRC Labor Contract Law (2012 amendment) ↗
Articles 4, 29–30 and 35: leave rules, performance, remuneration and written contract changes.
- Beijing Provisions on Wage Payment (2007 amendment) ↗
Articles 2, 6–13 and 19–27: local scope, wage records and distinct leave and shutdown rules; Article 22 concerns personal leave.
- Regulation on Paid Annual Leave for Employees, State Council Order No. 514 ↗
Articles 2–5, especially Article 4(2): annual leave and the combined personal-leave exclusion conditions.
- Measures for Implementing Paid Annual Leave for Enterprise Employees, MOHRSS Order No. 1 ↗
Articles 6–10 and 13: separate leave categories, the following-year rule, scheduling and more favourable entitlements.
General information about mainland China. The facts, applicable dates and local rules require individual review.
Partner, Beijing ChangAn Law Firm
China-qualified since 2019 · Beijing & Shenzhen
Review a personal-leave approval before confirming it
Align the leave category, approval terms, pay calculation and return plan for the China employer. Consultations are in Chinese and English.
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