New law to tackle discrimination

Beijing started to solicit public opinions Wednesday on a draft to regulate the human resources market.

Employers who discriminate against applicants' nationality, race, gender, or religion might face a fine of 10,000-30,000 yuan ($1,603-4,809) if the draft is approved.

"If the job advert includes discriminatory content, the Beijing human resources and social security bureau will order the employer to correct, and can fine them," reads article 12 of the draft.

National People's Congress member Chen Xiurong said that female graduates often face gender discrimination when it comes to job hunting.

"On average, female graduates need to send 44 resumes before landing a possible job," Chen was quoted as saying on People's Daily Online in 2009.

"It's progress, as it's the first time that labor contract laws have had an article on gender discrimination. This will promote equal competition between male and female applicants," said Wang Shuwen, a lawyer from Beijing Mingxian Law firm.

But Wang said it might be difficult to punish employers who violate the regulation.　

"The punishment is too light, and there's no reward incentive for those who report violators," Wang said.

Fu Jinya, lawyer from Beijing Guohan law firm told the Global Times that the draft has more detailed punishment than the former labor contract law, which only has some general regulations.

"The existing laws only have rules to prevent discrimination against people with certain diseases, like hepatitis B," said Fu.

In December last year, a group of around 20 female university students reported 267 employers who listed discriminatory job adverts on zhaopin.com and so far, they scored some positive responses, including the highest fine of 10,000 yuan to a company in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

"Many female students face gender discrimination in job hunting, but few of them take action and protest because it's difficult for a single person to sue the company," said Zheng Churan, who started the anti-discrimination group.

Her group looked at job adverts in eight cities in China, including Beijing.　

"The new regulation might have some effect, but it's not going be big. Similar regulations exist already; the biggest problem is supervision in the implementation of them. If the human resources bureau can be as strict as the tax department, things will be much better," said Zheng.

People can contribute suggestions to the draft on the website of the legal affairs office of the Beijing municipal government until February 27.