National Guidelines in China - Work and Family

Ministry of Labour and Social Security

Circular of the Ministry of Labour on Issuing the Measures (for Trial Implementation) for Maternity Insurance of the Staff and Workers in Enterprises (LMI No. 504) of 14 December 1994

The Measures issued by this Circular apply to enterprises in cities and towns and their staff and workers (article 2). They have the following purposes:

1. to protect the legitimate rights and interests of female staff and workers;
2. to ensure the provision of the economic compensation, medical treatment and health care to which these workers are entitled to obtain during their child-bearing; and,
3. to equalise the burden of maternity insurance premiums among enterprises (article 1).

The enterprise (not the staff and workers themselves) must pay maternity insurance premiums, in due proportion to its total pay-roll, to the agency in charge of social insurance funds. It must be listed as management expenses (article 4).

The following expenses must be paid from this maternity insurance fund:

1. maternity subsidies during maternity leave (calculated on the basis of the average monthly wages in the enterprise) (article 5); and
2. expenses for prenatal examination, delivering children, operations, hospitalisation and medicine, as well as medical expenses for diseases caused by child-bearing after de-hospitalisation (article 6).

The maternity insurance funds must be collected, paid and managed by the agency in charge of social insurance subordinate to the labour department (article 8).

Finally, supervision over the management of the fund must be conducted by the supervisory organs of social insurance (article 11). If an enterprise does not pay the premiums on time, an overdue fine for each overdue day must be imposed (article 12). Where an enterprise makes a fraudulent application and claim for maternity subsidies or medical expenses, all amounts of money falsely claimed must be recovered and an administrative sanction applied. Similarly, where an enterprise delays paying or refuses to pay maternity subsidies or medical expenses, the labour administrative department must order it to make corrections, and if harm has been suffered by the staff or workers, compensation must be paid (article 13).