Keep local rules up to date

Four labor law experts have suggested the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislature, review a clause that appears in the regulations of seven provinces, which stipulates that couples having more children than the family planning law allows must be fired from their jobs as punishment.

The commission notified the provincial people's congresses of some of the provinces recently, suggesting they amend their regulations, which, in practice, have served more as a deterrent so people abide by the family planning law.

Since 2016, all couples in China have been allowed to have two children, a big shift in China's family planning policy. This remains a legal ceiling for the number of children each couple can have, depending on certain conditions. Violating the rules means paying a fine in most provinces or, in the case of the seven provinces concerned, the couple losing their jobs.