1. Build a day-by-day absence record before assigning a label
Reconcile the work schedule, agreed work location, holiday and leave calendar, remote-work approvals and actual work delivered. A missing clock-in may reflect an approved off-site assignment or a recording error. Check whether a manager told the employee to stay home, disabled access or changed the workplace. Record required working dates and hours separately from rest days; do not turn an unexplained calendar gap into a count of unauthorized absence.
Contact the employee promptly through the established channels and check for illness, injury, an emergency or a pending leave request. If there is a concrete safety concern, consider appropriate emergency assistance and limited contact with the designated emergency contact. Keep relevant messages and explanations, including those inconsistent with misconduct. A leave request marked unapproved does not by itself prove that the absence lacked justification.
2. Ask for an explanation and a workable return arrangement
A written contact or return-to-work notice should identify the China employing entity, the dates requiring explanation, the work expected, the responsible contact and how to submit supporting material. If return is requested, specify the place and time and ensure the company will actually provide access and work. Invite the employee to explain any inability to return or communicate. Use a reasonable response period suited to the circumstances and applicable rules; the national Labor Contract Law does not prescribe one universal deadline for this kind of enquiry.
Preserve the notice itself, address or account used, sending record, delivery evidence and any response. If contact fails, check whether the recorded details remain usable and assess other appropriate channels. An internal note that HR called, or a returned envelope, does not establish that a particular document reached the employee. A contact notice is also not automatically a dismissal notice. Do not state that silence will be treated as consent to resign.
3. Do not substitute a personnel-system label for a legal exit
Article 37 of the PRC Labor Contract Law provides for employee termination on 30 days’ written notice, or 3 days’ notice during probation. Article 38 provides separate employee termination grounds, including specified employer breaches and immediate exit without prior notice in the dangerous or coercive circumstances stated there. Check any actual resignation or complaint message and its timing. A failure to attend is not, by itself, proof of a clear resignation notice or the basis on which the employee intended to leave.
Article 44(3) concerns death or a court declaration of death or disappearance. Being unreachable by telephone is not the same as a court declaration of disappearance. Likewise, the law does not set a nationwide number of absent days after which employment automatically ends. Do not backdate an exit to the last clock-in simply to close payroll. Identify the supported legal route and effective date before changing the employment record.
4. If disciplinary dismissal is considered, test the absence rule
Article 39(2) permits dismissal for a serious breach of the employer’s rules. Review the attendance rule in force at the time: how absence is defined, how days or hours accumulate, what justification is accepted and what warning or explanation steps it requires. Under Article 4 and the SPC Labor Disputes Interpretation (I), Article 50, examine lawful content, democratic adoption and communication. Article 50 also addresses priority for contractual terms when the employee requests their application over inconsistent internal rules. A newly drafted threshold cannot repair an earlier evidence gap.
Match the proved dates to the rule and explain why the breach is serious in its actual context. Repeated unanswered requests are evidence to assess, not an automatic replacement for proving unjustified absence. Genuine illness or other protected leave needs separate assessment. Article 42 restricts the Article 40 and 41 dismissal routes in its specified protected situations; it is not an absolute ban on a separately established Article 39 ground. Do not relabel medically supported leave as misconduct to avoid that protection.
5. Review the decision, delivery and outstanding obligations
Interpretation (I), Article 44 places the burden of proof on the employer for disputes arising from its dismissal decisions. Before unilateral dismissal, assess prior union notification under Article 43. Interpretation (I), Article 47 addresses an established union and the exception for remedying the procedure before litigation; do not plan to omit prior notice in reliance on that exception. If there is no union, check the applicable local arrangements. Set out the actual ground, facts and delivery plan in the decision file.
If employment lawfully ends, Article 50 requires an exit certificate at termination and transfer of personnel files and social-insurance relationships within 15 days. An unavailable employee creates a delivery and coordination problem, not permission to invent completion. Calculate pay against the verified attendance and leave status and applicable rules; review any claimed loss separately instead of treating all earned pay as forfeited. Prepare the schedule, attendance ledger, leave records, contact attempts, notices, employee replies, policy history and proposed decision. For initial advice, provide a non-confidential outline of the China entity, city, missing dates and intended action. Lawyer consultations are in Chinese and English.
Legal sources
Official sources · Checked 2026-10-26. Translations are for reference and are not official legal texts.
- PRC Labor Contract Law (2012 amendment) ↗
Articles 4, 29, 37–39, 42–44 and 50: duties, exit grounds, protected situations, union notice and post-exit obligations.
- SPC Interpretation (I) on Labor Disputes, Fa Shi [2020] No. 26 ↗
Articles 44, 47 and 50: employer burden of proof, the union-procedure exception and workplace rules.
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 an unexplained absence before recording an exit
Check the attendance record, contact evidence and proposed response before the China employer decides the next step.
Discuss your matter ↗