A local district court has ordered a textile company to pay a pregnant former employee 45,000 yuan ($7,216) in compensation plus a month of salary for illegally dissolving its labor contract with her, Jing'an District People's Court said Monday.
The company ended the contract after the employee, whom the court called Ye Jia, sent a letter informing it of her condition, according to a court press release. In the letter, she asked permission to take leave on April 27, 2012, three days before the contract was set to expire.
The company offered to renew the contract on two later occasions, May 11 and May 16, but Ye did not reply, the court said. Thinking Ye was reluctant to renew, the company dissolved the contract on May 24.
Ye filed a complaint against her employer with the local labor dispute committee. The committee ruled that the company should pay Ye 45,000 yuan in compensation for illegally ending the contract, plus 24 days of salary amounting to about 2,800 yuan.
The company refused to accept the ruling and took the case to Jing'an District People's Court.
The court concurred with the labor board's ruling that the company had violated the law. Under Chinese labor law, an employer must extend a pregnant employee's contract through the end of her breast-feeding period, which ends about one year after a woman gives birth.
Ye started working for the company in 2007, and had renewed her contract several times. Her starting salary was 2,200 yuan per month. However, Ye submitted evidence showing that the company was actually paying her 4,500 yuan per month. Li Hongguang, a press officer from the court, told the Global Times that the court decided the company should compensate Ye based on her current salary.
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