Firms urged to better protect women

Employers nationwide have been ordered to better protect female staff members from sexual harassment, as part of the revised regulations on women's rights in the workplace.

Public awareness of sexual harassment has steadily risen in China in recent years with additional counseling centers, yet detection and the collection of evidence are still difficult.

Authorities are now calling on companies to play a larger role in protecting employees.

"Employers need to have a channel to effectively receive complaints (from victims) and deal with the cases," said Lan Qing, deputy director of the women's rights and interests department at the All-China Women's Federation, at a news conference to discuss the revised regulations in Beijing on Wednesday.

Lan also suggested companies install cameras in elevators and provide more open office spaces to allow better observation.

Employers should inform female workers about self-defense, and a mechanism should be set up to protect the privacy of sexual harassment victims, she said.

Special Provisions on the Protection of Female Employees, adopted by the State Council, took effect on April 28.

There are about 137 million female employees in the country, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The new rules also prolong female workers' maternity leave from 90 days to 98 days.

Moreover, the rules more clearly specifies leave granted to women who have miscarriages.

Female employee will get 15 days of leave if their miscarriage occurs within the first four months of pregnancy. Those who have miscarriages after a pregnancy of four months or longer can receive 42 days' leave.

Employers may not lower pay or dismiss workers due to pregnancy, childbirth or breast-feeding. Employers should reduce the workload or arrange other jobs for workers if they could not handle their original work due to pregnancy.

Employers will be asked not to extend the work hours or put women on night duty if they have been pregnant for seven months.

The regulation suggests that employers should allow women with infants less than 1 year old an hour a day for breast-feeding.

Zhang Shiping, vice-chairwoman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the country's top trade union organization, said: "We have made the new regulation in line with international codes, for example, the 98-day maternity leave is in accordance with the International Labour Organization's Maternity Protection Convention."

"We have also made it match China's other laws, such as labor law as well as occupational disease prevention and control laws," Zhang said at the news conference on Wednesday.

Labor authorities and work safety watchdogs should oversee the implementation of the regulations.

Offenders face fines from 1,000 to 300,000 yuan (US$160 to US$47,600) and those employers who seriously violate the rules could be suspended from operation.