China CSR Watch

By China CSR Watch (www.csrcsr.com)

According to a research published by Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control on June 27th 2007, 77% MNCs in China refuse to recruite hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers, and 96% require compulsory blood test.

The research surveyed 115 branches or JVs of 98 MNCs in China, covering 11 cities. The companies named in the report for refusing to recruite HBV carriers include Motorola, Siemens, Phillips, Foxconn, Sony, Samsung.

“Although most MNCs have global policies that require them not to discriminate based health conditions, their Chinese branches lack the application and supervision of their global policies,” the research explains.

HBV is a social problem in China. It is estimated that 120 million people, around 10% of the total population in China, are HBV carriers. Although HBV can only be transmitted through blood, mother-infant, or sex, most Chinese still have the perception that HBV is highly contagious and refuse to live or work with HBV carriers. Until recently, even many government branches refuse to hire HBV carriers.

On May 30th, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Labour and Social Security jointly issued a memo stating that employers can not refuse recruiting or lay off employees due to HBV, except in some special positions regulated by relevant laws and regulations.

Chinese HBV carriers are increasingly agreesive in protecting their rights in recent months. In May, a job applicant sued Nokia for discrimination. In July, 4 college graduates sued Foxconn for discrimination during recruiting.

Sources (in Chinese and English):
Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control: http://www.cfhpc.net/static/html/200762791826.html
Xinghua: http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2007-05/30/content_6174757.htm
Nanfang City News: http://tech.tom.com/2007-06-27/06MP/31160236.html
Financial Times: http://www.ftchinese.com/sc/story_english.jsp?id=001010048&loc=story
China Youth Daily: http://news.sohu.com/20070515/n250019069.shtml

By China CSR Watch (www.csrcsr.com)

Since early 2007, 11% of LG Electronics China employees were forced to leave the company after their employment contracts ended without renewal. This is the biggest work force reduction since LG Electronics entered China market 14 years ago. LG has more than 38,000 employees in China according to its official website.

“I don’t regard this as a lay-off. It’s an adjustment of human recourses due to the strategic change of the company,” explained HAN Xuefei, public relations manager of LG. No severance package was awarded due to the fact that the employees’ labor contracts have expired, according to the LG Electronics’ statement.

According to LG China’s HR practice, the labor contract is to be renewed on a yearly basis. However, according to the latest Chinese labor law expected to come out within the year, employees who work for a company for more than 10 years have the right to request a un-fixed term labor contract.

“After the introduction of the new labor law, the company can only lay off those un-fixed term employees with a hefty severance package,” according to an anonymous source who claimed to have worked in LG’s HR department.

Many forced-out employees are said to have worked for LG between 5 to 10 years.

Sources (in Chinese):
Guangzhou Daily: http://tech.qq.com/a/20070628/000117.htm
Yangcheng Evening News: http://news.sohu.com/20070626/n250780039.shtml
World Business Report: http://biz.icxo.com/htmlnews/2007/06/25/1148074.htm
LG Electronics: http://cn.lge.com/aboutus/china/management.jsp

By China CSR Watch (www.csrcsr.com)

25 international and Chinese domestic companies were awarded the Best Corporate Image 2006 titles by Development Research Center of the State Council P.R.China, China Credit Research Center under Peking University, Sohu.com, and Guang Hua Media on January 29th 2007 in Beijing. However, the annual Best Employer title was left vacant.

“Employee relations is one of our key focus areas in our research criteria on corporate social responsibility. However, 2006 was the year that many employee relations incidents surfaced. This is a clear indicator that the public has shifted its attention from speed of economic development to the welfare and respect of individuals,” explained SHI Qisheng, general manager of Guang Hua Media.

The MNCs received these titles are Pepsi, Ford, HP, Coca-Cola, Lenovo, McDonalds, Motorola, Nokia, Loreal, Microsoft, Siemens, and Volkswagen. Siemens was also awarded the Annual Best Corporate Responsibility Company and Lenovo was awarded the Annual Best Management Company.

The organizers also published what claimed to be the first corporate image report in China, which can be downloaded at 2006 China Corporate Public Image Report (Chinese Version).

Sources (in Chinese):
Sohu.com
http://business.sohu.com/s2007/5180/s247803298/
http://business.sohu.com/20070129/n247915659.shtml
http://business.sohu.com/20070131/n247952872.shtml
http://business.sohu.com/upload/2006qyxx.doc