Compensation payments for deceased employees in Dalian

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The has been plenty of press about the various additions and subtractions to the second draft labor law – China Briefing looked at it in May – and with all the recent focus on worker’s rights, we decided to post a recent case blog contributor Adam Livermore of Dezan Shira & Associates’ Dalian office dealt with regarding deceased employees.

While no employer would ever wish this upon themselves or their employees, the death of an employee does indeed happen, and while the information below applies more specifically to companies in Dalian, the basis is very much the same nationwide. Please take a look at the following guidelines and be sure to find out exactly how much compensation you may have to provide in your area.

According to the Guideline No. 124/1994 and No. 239 issued by the Dalian Labor and Social Security Bureau, the compensation borne by the employer for a deceased employees who died from an unrelated work matter – off property and on personal time, includes, but is not limited to, the following items:

  • Funeral subsidy (one-off payment) = average monthly city wage in the last social insurance year times three. [RMB1747 x 3 = RMB5241]
  • Alms for lineal relatives (one-off payment shared among surviving lineal relatives) = average monthly city wage in the last social insurance year time 10. [RMB1747 x 10 = RMB17470]
  • Alms for lineal relatives who are supported by the deceased employee, normally including, but limited to, the following people: Children under 18 years, children over 18 but pursuing study at a level no higher than a bachelor’s degree, wife or mother who is or above 50 years old or less than 50 but incapacitated, husband or father who is or above the age of 60, or less than 60 but incapacitated.

The alms amount for each of the people mentioned is normally 150 yuan per month calculated on the policy presently implemented and will be adjusted / terminated pursuant to the corresponding regulatory provisions.

Please note that compared to the first two items, the third – alms for lineal relatives – can be quite unpredictable since it has to be calculated and confirmed by the authority on a case by case basis depending on support available to the surviving relatives.