Hospital reprimanded for firing women at 44, men at 50

A hospital in Xunyang, Shaanxi province, has been ordered to correct its policy of firing female workers older than 44 and male workers older than 50, according to a notice issued by the local government on Monday.

Xunyang People's Hospital has been told to change the policy within 15 days and to compensate 19 of its fired workers at double salary, according to the notice issued by the Xunyang People's Government.

The hospital adopted a plan in 2017 to fire contracted non-medical male workers older than 50 and female workers older than 44. A total of 19 workers have been fired based on the policy, the notice said.

The incident triggered heated discussion online, and the city launched an investigation, the notice said.

The city will strengthen management of companies, standardize labor regulations and safeguard the legitimate rights of workers, it added.

Under China's Labor Contract Law, workers are entitled to sign an open-ended labor contract if they have worked at a company for more than 10 years or have signed a fixed-term contract twice. If the company refuses to sign the opened-ended labor contract, it must employees a double monthly salary.