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Chapter 12. Employment Equality
Section 2. Social Structure
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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Outline
• Introduction• State of employment equality• Gender equality• Age equality• Appearance equality• Road ahead
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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Introduction
• The firm’s logic of finding the best employee• Several comments– Biases appear to be customer driven. – Confusion among executives about what
constitutes employment equality– Government must play a role in ensuring
employment equality
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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State of employment equality
• Major national laws ensuring employment equality in China. – “Workers should not be subject to discrimination
because of their ethnic backgrounds, races, gender, religious beliefs, etc.” - Law of the People’s Republic of China on Promotion of Employment
– The elements of “birthplace, industry, social status, and gender” were included into Decisions made during the 3rd Plenary Session of 18th CPC Central Committee
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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State of employment equality
• Favorable treatment of minority ethnic groups– Article 28 of the Law on Promotion of Employment– The quota system and the point system in
universities and government agencies– Exemption from the rigid one-child policy
• The treatment of disabled citizens
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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State of employment equality
Three areas in which employment equality has yet to be fully realized. • Gender equality(codified in Chinese law, but
not implemented sufficiently)• Age equality (not codified in Chinese law, but
relevant laws exist in other countries)• Appearance equality(not codified in Chinese
law, or in other countries)
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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State of employment equality
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
A hiring advertisement outside a chain restaurant in Shanghai, 2012, with relevant criteria translated below.
Store Manager: younger than 35 years.Assistant Manager: younger than 35 years.Shift Supervisor: 20-26 years, healthy, appearance must be presentable, male taller than 170 cm, female taller than 150 cm.Server: 16-35 years, male taller than 170 cm, female taller than 150 cm.
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Gender equality
• Article 27 in Law on Promotion of Employment• Females have experienced many forms of employment
discrimination. • E.g., An online survey– More than 90% believed they or their friends had suffered
gender discrimination in the job market– Reasons: “having a child” (43.3%), “women don’t fit in to the
lifestyle associated with some types of work (35.2%) etc.• E.g., The first ever lawsuit based on gender
discrimination in employment was filed in 2012
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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Age equality
• An overcorrection to the lifetime appointment practices of the Mao era--to open doors to younger people
• E.g., a story of a senior VP• Age discrimination occurs in three contexts:
hiring, promotion and retirement.
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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Age Discrimination
Hiring:• Age discrimination in hiring is very common
both in public agencies and private business.• Anyone older than 40 will have a harder time
getting a new job.
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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Age Discrimination
Promotion:• Age is used as a cutoff or in a point system• E.g., The group SVP or promotion of the public
officials (45)
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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Age Discrimination
Retirement:• Mandatory retirement – the average
retirement age is 56.1 (male, 58.3; female, 52.4)
• China doesn’t have formal legislation against age discrimination compared to other countries– The Age Discrimination in Employment Act in the
United StatesThe Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014
Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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Appearance equality
• The Chinese people think it is perfectly acceptable to use appearance as a criterion in hiring decisions
• The first thing a potential employer will evaluate is an applicant’s face– E.g.,resume including the photo of the individual
• The aesthetics industry is thriving in China• Many firms will only hire someone who is taller
than a certain height. The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014
Chapter 12. Employment Equality
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Road ahead
• The three forms of inequality described above will gradually recede.
• The public sector must lead the change.– Change internal hiring practices– Create appropriate legislation– Change public perceptions about what is normal
and acceptable behavior. – Appearance discrimination can be eradicated
quickly if the government makes it a focus.
The Chinese Way, Ding and Xu, 2014 Chapter 12. Employment Equality