1. Stop automatic expiry processing and identify the legal route
Articles 42(4) and 45 of the Labor Contract Law require a contract expiring during pregnancy, maternity or nursing protection to continue until the corresponding circumstance ends. Article 42 also bars dismissal under Articles 40 and 41 during these circumstances. Paying expiry severance or giving advance notice does not replace statutory continuation. Do not issue an expiry certificate, close payroll or stop social insurance solely because the original end date has arrived.
This is not immunity from every lawful ending of employment. A proven Article 39 ground, a genuine consensual separation, or a statutory event such as lawful dissolution requires its own factual and procedural assessment. Pregnancy itself cannot be the reason for dismissal. Do not re-label a proposed non-renewal as misconduct, resignation or a settlement to bypass protection.
2. Build a timeline rather than guessing a final date
Record the contract end date, the medically supported pregnancy timeline, actual birth date, approved maternity leave and the relevant nursing period. National female-employee protection rules address nursing a child under 1 year old. Applicable local maternity and childbirth leave rules and the employee’s circumstances still need checking. A maternity-leave return date is not necessarily the end of all contract protection.
Article 48 of the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests provides automatic continuation through maternity leave where a contract expires during pregnancy or lawful maternity leave, with exceptions for lawful endings specified in that article. Read it alongside the Labor Contract Law’s nursing protection; it does not justify ignoring that protection when maternity leave ends. If pregnancy is reported only after an expiry notice, establish whether it already existed at the relevant date. A later report and a later start of pregnancy are different facts. Request only necessary supporting information and restrict access.
3. Confirm continuation without inventing a new contract history
Article 8(1) of SPC Interpretation (II) on Labor Disputes treats continuation in the Article 42 circumstances as automatic by law, rather than a failure to conclude a written employment contract. The continuation itself therefore should not be treated as an unsigned-contract period for double-wage liability. This does not excuse an earlier missing contract or decide a separate open-ended-contract claim. Keep the original signed contract and the evidence supporting continuation.
As a practical record, provide a written continuation confirmation identifying the original contract, the legal basis, the known protected circumstances and the process for reviewing updated dates. Employee acknowledgement helps document communication; it is not a condition that creates statutory protection. Do not insert a waiver or backdate a renewal. Separately record any genuinely agreed change of terms, because an agreed extension and a statutory continuation are not interchangeable.
4. Align leave, payroll and social insurance during continuation
Keep employment and social insurance administration active while employment continues. Article 5 of the Special Provisions on Labor Protection of Female Employees prohibits reducing wages or dismissing an employee because of pregnancy, childbirth or nursing. Work adjustments, antenatal examinations, maternity leave and nursing arrangements require their own compliance review. Contract expiry is not a reason to record protected leave as unauthorized absence.
Under Article 8 of those provisions, maternity allowance for an insured employee is paid by the maternity insurance fund using the employer’s previous-year average monthly employee wage; for an uninsured employee, the employer pays based on her pre-leave wage. Check local implementation, entitlement conditions, payment timing and any employer top-up obligation before issuing the payroll instruction. Do not assume a pending fund payment eliminates every employer payment duty, or that full salary and the allowance are always payable twice. Preserve calculations and payment records.
5. Review the next decision before the protection ends
Before the expected end of protection, recheck actual dates, any other continuing protected circumstance, the full renewal history and Article 14 open-ended-contract conditions. Avoid an automatic termination instruction tied solely to a child’s first birthday. If a lawful fixed-term expiry ultimately occurs, assess economic compensation under Articles 46(5) and 47, including the exception where the employer offers maintained or improved contractual terms and the employee declines renewal. An obligation to continue or renew cannot be bought out merely by budgeting severance.
For an employer-side review, prepare the employing entity and work city, complete contract chain, original expiry notice and proof of delivery, a limited protected-period timeline, leave approvals, payroll and insurance records, and the proposed next step. If an exit has already been processed, preserve the actual sequence and promptly assess correction; do not replace earlier records with a backdated version. Initial contact can state the issue and deadline without sending medical records or other sensitive employee material.
Legal sources
Official sources · Checked 2026-10-09. Translations are for reference and are not official legal texts.
- PRC Labor Contract Law (2012 amendment) ↗
Articles 14, 36, 39–47; distinguish continuation, dismissal and statutory termination.
- SPC Interpretation (II) on Labor Disputes, Fa Shi [2025] No. 12 ↗
Articles 8(1), 10, 11 and 21; effective 1 September 2025.
- Special Provisions on Labor Protection of Female Employees, State Council Order No. 619 ↗
Articles 5–9; State Council Order No. 619, effective 28 April 2012.
- PRC Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests (2022 revision) ↗
Articles 47, 48 and 86; the 2022 revision took effect on 1 January 2023.
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 contract expiry during a protected period
State the China work city, original expiry date, protected-period timeline and whether an exit notice has already been issued.
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