2022 Year in Review | AnJie Broad Labor and Employment

Chambers and Partners, an authoritative global legal rating agency, released the 2023 Greater China Region Guide. AnJie Broad ranked "Band 2" among Recommended PRC Law Firms in the field of Labor and Employment. Mr. Liu Zhenghe, partner of AnJie Broad Labor and Employment Beijing team, ranked "Band 2" among Recommended Practitioners, and Mr. Shen Jun, Ms. Sun Lin, and Ms. Cui Yana, partners of AnJie Broad Labor and Employment Shanghai team, ranked at "Band 4", "Band 4", and "Band 5" respectively.

Review from Chambers Ranking:

“AnJie Broad Law Firm’s vibrant employment department is recognized for its experience acting on dispute resolution and advisory work. Handles mass layoff projects and labor issues arising from corporate transactions and restructurings. Especially skilled in employment cases involving trade secret and unfair competition issues. Assists with formulating compliance policies and systems, as well as compliance investigations. Its clientele includes domestic and international entities from various industries, such as technology, logistics and financial services.”

Comments on the team and practitioners from clients and market commentators:

“They are very strong in employment, and are able to deal with complex and difficult cases.”

“They can grasp the points, present the evidence clearly in court and persuade the judge.”

“Mr. Liu Zhenghe has rich experience in employment, and is able to maximize the client's benefit.”

“Mr. Liu Zhenghe knows how the employers and employees would deal with the cases. He is very practical, and gives advice not just from the legal perspective.”

“Mr. Shen Jun has rich experience handling difficult and complicated employment projects. He is particularly hands-on.”

“Ms. Sun Lin is hands-on all the matters, from large to small cases.”

“Ms. Cui Yana is detailed and dedicated.”

The Legal 500 released the Asia Pacific Guide for recommended law firms and practitioners. AnJie Broad ranked “Tier 1” in the field of labor and employment, practitioners including Mr. Liu Zhenghe, Mr. Shen Jun, Ms. Sun Lin, Ms. Cui Yana, Ms. Cao Xinbei (Associate), and Ms. He Xiaochen (Senior Associate) were recommended.

Review from Legal 500:

“AnJie Broad Law Firm labor practice counts among the firms at the zenith of the PRC market. Many of its clients are long-standing, and the firm has built trusting and productive relationships with them over many years. Clients range across sectors from Standard Chartered to Universal Beijing Parks and Resorts. The firm provides a full employment law service covering disputes, HR matters and restructuring, wage negotiations, dismissals, union matters, compliance and trade secrets. Jun Shen, who oversees large scale restructuring projects and employee transfers, and Zhenghe Liu, who is highly experienced in labor dispute resolution, head the practice.”

“The employment team won its reputation for high success rate in handling corporate labor disputes and dealing with challenging union issues. Its new addition of top practitioners expands the depth of the practice. The team’s practice covers labor arbitration, HR risk assessment and prevention, employment planning, employee compliance investigation, employment due diligence in mergers and acquisitions, collective contracts/collective wage negotiations, layoff planning and negotiations and union issues.”

LEGALBAND, a renowned legal rating agency, released the list of Top Ranked PRC Firms in 2022 and Top Ranked PRC Practitioners in 2022. Both AnJie Broad and Mr. Liu Zhenghe ranked “Tier 1" in the field of labor and employment.

Review from LEGALBAND:

“AnJie Broad has successfully provided a full range of labor law related services for many large state-owned enterprises and top 500 multinational companies. Its customer resources cover throughout industries including petroleum, banking, insurance, communication electronics, aviation logistics, new energy, commercial real estate, chemical industry, medicine, Internet, media and advertising, etc.”

Asialaw Profiles released the list of Leading Firms and Leading Practitioners of 2023. AnJie Broad was recommended in the labor and employment field, and Mr. Liu Zhenghe was recognized as an "Outstanding Practitioner".

Benchmark Litigation, a globally renowned legal rating agency, released its 2022 Asia Pacific Guide. AnJie Broad was recommended in the labor and employment field, and Mr. Liu Zhenghe was recognized as a "Litigation Star".

Mr. Zhu Taotao (Partner) and his team supported a Japanese-funded company on the in-depth review of labor compliance for its more than 10 PRC subsidiaries (including holding company, manufacturing companies and trading companies). The professional service and solution-oriented manner of Mr. Zhu was well recognized by client. Mr. Zhu helped the client solve its compliance issues in a practical way.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe, Ms. He Xiaochen and Ms. Kang Ting (Paralegal) advised several FIEs and SOEs on employment matters related to mode of employment, wage payment and social insurance premiums contribution under the background of the government’s restriction and prohibition of third-party’s payment of social security premiums, and reviewed and drafted related legal documents.

Mr. Shen Jun and Ms. Fu Yanfei (Associate) conducted compliance investigation on a senior executive for a joint venture bank, including assisting the client with on-site interviews with the executive and other related parties, reviewing materials and preparing final analysis reports. Their work was highly recognized by the client.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Zhang Yueqi (Paralegal) advised a leading Internet platform company on issues arising from the new form of employment, including employment compliance, trade union organization construction, and collective bargaining, etc.

Ms. Sun Lin, Ms. Cao Xinbei and Mr. Li Ming (Associate) set up a hotline for labor and personnel consultation for more than 30 branches of an internationally renowned asset management group in China, providing unified support for labor and personnel management for branches across the country.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen advised a well-known multinational digital electronics company on the compliance investigation of an employee on core position and the employment relationship management during business transfer.

Mr. Shen Jun and Mr. Li Ming negotiated for settlement on behalf of a first-class domestic Internet high-tech company with the family of an employee whose decease is similar to work-related death, and achieved a proper settlement, which was recognized by both the client and the family of the deceased.

Ms. Sun Lin advised a Fortune 500 company on issues related to an employee who died of sudden illness, communicated and negotiated with the families of the deceased, and properly handled this emergency for the client.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen advised a foreign-funded reinsurance company on the revision of internal human resources management regulations and employment-related documents.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen advised a well-known foreign-funded sports event alliance on the handling of employees’ employment relationship.

Ms. Sun Lin and Ms. Xue Jingyi (Paralegal) provided legal advices to a US-funded precision equipment company in the compliance investigation of an employee who was in conflict of interest with the client, conducted on-site interviews with the employees involved, prepared practical opinions, and successfully handled the compliance incident.

Ms. Sun Lin, Ms. Cao Xinbei, and Ms. Xue Jingyi advised a foreign-funded financial institution on personal information protection.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Fang Yingchao (Associate) advised a well-known insurance company on the revision of internal human resources management regulations and employment related documents. 

Mr. Zhu Taotao and Ms. Liu Menglu (Senior Associate) advised a Japanese-funded company on economic crime matters committed by senior executives, and supported the client in implementing rectification plans.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Zhang Yueqi provided special legal services related to the construction of flexible employment platform for a well-known property management group.

At the end of 2022, Royal Philips Group announced a personnel adjustment plan involving about 4,000 staff around the world. Mr. Shen Jun and Ms. Chen Siying (Associate) assisted Philips China to complete the above adjustment successfully with a high settlement rate.

Mr. Shen Jun, Ms. Chen Siying and Mr. Li Ming advised on the layoff projects of a world-renowned bearing manufacturing group’s entity in Shanghai, Qingdao and Changshu. They helped to complete the layoff of all the employees concerned successfully.

Mr. Shen Jun, Ms. Chen Siying and Ms. Fu Yanfei advised a foreign bank on its layoff project of up to 300 employees due to the cancellation of business line, and achieved 100% settlement rate.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen advised a well-known foreign-funded machinery agency on its layoff project arising from organizational restructuring.

Mr. Zhu Taotao and his team advised a well-known Japanese pharmaceutical company on its layoff of employees in PRC subsidiary due to the reduction of business. Mr. Zhu and his team provided in-depth legal services throughout the project.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen advised a financial technology company on of its layoff project due to company dissolution.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen advised a branch of a leading private aerospace company on its layoff project due to company dissolution.

Mr. Shen Jun and Ms. Chen Siying provided layoff-related legal services and general labor law consulting services for a biopharmaceutical listed company during the shutdown of its Suzhou factory.

Mr. Shen Jun and Ms. Chen Siying provided employment management and general labor law consulting services during the business integration of two major U.S. tire companies, and represented the clients in related arbitration and litigation cases.

Mr. Zhu Taotao and his team advised a Japanese-funded biological company on its layoff project due to its equity transfer.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe, Ms. He Xiaochen and Ms. Fang Yingchao represented an international resort in Beijing in labor arbitration and litigation against employees and won several of them. 

Ms. Sun Lin, Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Fang Yingchao represented a well-known global communications company in disputes with an former employee who requested reinstatement of employment, and helped the client win the arbitration, and settled in the litigation of first instance. 

Ms. Cui Yana, Ms. He Xiaochen, Ms. Fu Yanfei and Ms. Xue Jingyi represented a world-renowned enterprise management software company in a number of labor disputes, including a lawsuit where nearly 20 foreign employees requested confirmation of employment relationship, to whom the client raised defenses of conflicts of interest, sexual harassment, breach of confidentiality and other serious disciplinary violations.

In a labor dispute against an employee, Mr. Zhu Taotao put forward the view that “whether year-end bonus should be included in the total income in the past 12 months should not depend on when the bonus is paid.” The court adopted this view and excluded the year-end bonus from the calculation base of economic compensation, by which the client avoided hundreds of thousands of losses.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen represented an international aviation consulting company in an employment termination dispute against a former executive and won the case.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen represented a multinational display technology company in an employment termination dispute against a former employee and won the case.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen represented an international air express company in an employment termination dispute against a former employee and won.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe, Ms. Sun Lin, and Ms. Fang Yingchao represented a well-known communications company in a dispute against a former employee who claimed reinstatement of employment and successfully transferred the case to another jurisdiction more in favor of the client. 

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Fang Yingchao represented a well-known domestic aerospace technology company in a dispute against a former employee who claimed reinstatement of employment and won the case. 

Ms. Cui Yana and Ms. Cao Xinbei represented a world-renowned insurance company in a number of arbitration and litigation cases against its senior managements and achieved a high winning rate, which was highly recognized by the client.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen represented an international school in an employment termination dispute against a faculty member and won.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen represented a multinational reinsurance company throughout labor arbitration and litigation against former employees regarding termination of employment contract and won the case.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe, Ms. He Xiaochen and Ms. Kang Ting represented the Changchun branch of a well-known domestic brewery company against a number of employees in disputes over economic compensation and won the case.

Ms. Cui Yana and Ms. Xue Jingyi represented a well-known foreign-funded real estate service management company in a case regarding termination of employment contract due to disciplinary violations and won. 

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Fang Yingchao represented a domestic property insurance company and a former executive in a performance bonus dispute and won the case, which avoided the client losses up to RMB 4 million.

Ms. Chen Siying and Ms. Xue Jingyi represented a leading company in the electronics industry in a dispute over conflict of interest and bonus against an employee .

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Fang Yingchao represented a domestic credit insurance company in a year-end bonus dispute against a former employee and won the case.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Fang Yingchao represented a well-known machinery manufacturing company in a performance bonus dispute against a former employee.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen represented a well-known investment company in bonus disputes against several former employees and won the case.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen represented a well-known display technology company in various jurisdictions including Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu and Mianyang in non-compete disputes against several former senior management and senior technical employees and won the cases. One of them was selected in “2022 Typical Cases of Labor Dispute Arbitration” announced by Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe, Ms. Ji Hua (Partner) and Ms. He Xiaochen represented a well-known video website in a non-compete arbitration against a former core employee and won. The arbitration tribunal awarded all the CNY 2.7 million liquidated damages claimed by the company.

Ms. Sun Lin and Ms. Cao Xinbei represented a well-known medical device company in non-compete cases against several employees and won the current stage.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. He Xiaochen represented a foreign agricultural company in a non-compete case against a former senior technical employee and won in the first instance.

Ms. Sun Lin, Ms. Cui Yana, Mr. Li Ming, and Ms. Xue Jingyi represented a well-known global communications company in a number of labor outsourcing disputes arbitration and litigation cases.

Ms. Cui Yana and Mr. Li Ming represented a well-known Singapore real estate group in a dispute against a Taiwanese employee who requested confirmation of employment relationship and compensation, and won the case.

Mr. Zhu Taotao represented a leading human resource group company in a work-related death dispute and won the case, relieving the client from joint liability and losses of more than a million.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe and Ms. Fang Yingchao represented a space institution in a case over liquidated damages against a former employee and won. 

Ms. Sun Lin and Ms. Chen Siying represented a private equity fund company in a case where the client claimed liability for breach of service contract towards an employee and won at the current stage.

AnJie Broad Law Firm held the second New Year seminar on hot issues of insurance legal compliance management and insurance litigation and arbitration. Ms. Cui Yana and Mr. Yang Hongquan (Partner) were invited to share their views on the topics of “Analysis of Common Employment Issues and Risk Prevention in Insurance Companies” and “The Impact of the Personal Information Protection Law on the Insurance Industry and Response” respectively.

AnJie Broad and LexisNexis jointly hosted the Seminar on Hot Issues of Internal Compliance Management of Employment. Mr. Shen Jun, Mr. Liu Wenwu, Ms. Sun Lin, and Mr. Yang Hongquan discussed with hundreds of participants online on subjects including “Common Issues on Internal Compliance Management of Employment during the Pandemic”, “Transfer of Labor Relationship during the Merger and Division of a Company”, “Changes in Statutory Leave Following the Third-child Policy”, and “the Impact of the Personal Information Protection Law on Employment Management and Resolutions”.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe was invited by China Mobile Beijing to provide an internal training on “Legal Issues Related to Employment Contract Termination and Expiration and Dismission of Employees” for heads of human resource department and business departments. 

Ms. Cui Yana provided legal training on employment contract termination to a client’s HR team.

Ms. Cui Yana was invited by Law School of ECUST to give the students a lecture on “Legal Practice of Employment Contract Termination”.

The 7th activity – Special Seminar for the Establishment and Management of Internet-based Companies’ Compliance System sponsored by AnJie Digital Economy Legal Research Institute and co-organized by Lexis Nexis concluded successfully. More than two hundred industry players and experts attended the online seminar. Mr. Shen Jun gave suggestions to enterprises with respect to lawful rescission/termination path and notes, based on his service experience of large-scale companies’ layoff waves.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe was invited to provide internal labor law training for Swiss Re., sharing advice and views on human resource management.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe, was invited to provide internal labor law training for Huatai Life Insurance, sharing views with the heads of human resources from the headquarters and various branches on legal provisions and practical operation guidelines for employment contract termination and expiration.

Ms. Sun Lin provided internal training for HR department of the client on the management of medical treatment period for special diseases and human resource practices under the Personal Information Protection Law.

Co-sponsored by AnJie Broad’s Labor Law Team and LOUNCIL, the seminar entitled “Practical Guide to Analyzing the Process of Economic Layoffs and Avoiding Legal Risk in Enterprises” was shared with and interacted with human resources management professionals and legal practitioners through online and offline means.

Ms. Sun Lin was invited to share practical in-house training on medical leave management for special disease, latest laws and regulations, and typical cases for HR department of the client.

Ms. Cui Yana was invited to share probation management and performance management with a group’s HR function.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe was invited by the Law School of China Institute of Labor Relations to give a lecture on “Practical Issues in Labor Dispute Resolution” as a practical tutor, introducing the labor dispute resolution mechanism and analyzing relevant practical issues.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe was invited by the Training Center of CCPIT to give a lecture on “Labor & Social Security Compliance and Establishment of Harmonious Labor Relationship” for more than 200 public lawyers and compliance-related staff of CCPIT at the “2022 Training Session for Public Lawyer on Compliance Issues”.

Ms. Cui Yana was invited by EVERPRO to share hot issues on labor and employment compliance for corporate in-house councils.

Invited by LCOUNCIL, focusing on the 2022 typical labor dispute cases and practices in the Yangtze River Delta, Ms. Sun Lin, and Ms. Cui Yanai combined relevant cases and their own rich experience, analyzed and discussed together with the councils of enterprises.

Invited by a fortune group, Ms. Cui Yana shared legal practices regarding employment contracts management with the HR managers and legal councils of the group.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe was invited by the Remote Intelligent Banking Center of the China Construction Bank to give a special training on Analysis of Legal Practice Issues Related to Labor Relationship Management for the heads of human resources of various sub-centers across the country.

Ms. Sun Lin gave a lecture regarding complex issues in labor outsourcing to a well-known global communication company.

Mr. Shen Jun was invited by Alibaba and Ant Group to provide legal trainings on labor law and related fields at the HR Night School Campaign for more than a thousand HR team members from all over the country.

Ms. Cui Yana was invited by East China University of Science and Technology to share views on hot labor and employment compliance issues with the students.

Ms. Sun Lin gave a lecture regarding complex issues concerning the termination of employment relationship for a foreign Fortune 500 bank.

1. Legal Restrictions on and Risk Analysis of Non-Local Payment of Social Insurance Premium by Third Party Institutions for Enterprise Employees

2. Reflections on the Breach of Confidential Obligations by Former Employees

3. The Disputes over “Individual Income Tax Difference” in Labor Dispute Cases Award/Judgement Enforcement

4. Q&A: Enterprises’ Labor Management under Shanghai’s 2+12 Control Measures

5. Ten Compliance Details for Termination of the Employment Contract due to Serious Disciplinary Violation

6. Discussion on the Application of “Organizational Restructure” in Termination Without Cause

7. Further Discussion on Employment Discrimination

8. In-depth Analysis on the Provisions on Standard Contracts for Outbound Transfer of Personal Information (Draft for Comment)

9. Brief Analysis of the Issue of Employee Placement in Business Line Acquisition

10. Inquiry into the Scope of Employees Subject to Non-compete Obligation

11. Risk Identification and Compliance Key Points for Labor Outsourcing

12. Expansion of “Employer’s Independent Rights” Based on “Ten New Measures”

13. Analysis of Competitive Relationship in Non-Compete Disputes and Comments on Supreme People’s Court Guiding Case No. 190

14. Analysis of Adjudication Standards for Labor Dispute Cases Involving Year-end Bonuses from the Perspective of Supreme People's Court Guiding Case No. 183

AnJie Employment Law Insights (Jan. & Feb. 2022)

AnJie Employment Law Insights (March. 2022)

AnJie Employment Law Insights (April. 2022)

AnJie Employment Law Insights (May. 2022)

AnJie Employment Law Insights (June. 2022)

AnJie Employment Law Insights (July. 2022)

AnJie Employment Law Insights (Aug. 2022)

AnJie Employment Law Insights (Sept. 2022)

AnJie Broad Employment Law Insights (Oct. 2022)

AnJie Broad Employment Law Insights (Nov. 2022)

AnJie Broad Employment Law Insights (Dec. 2022)

AnJie Broad and LexisNexis jointly released the Legal Research Report on Non-compete Cases in 10 Regions (2019-2021), and held a webinar on the Report. The Report focuses on key, complicated and hot issues in non-compete disputes from 2019 to 2021 in ten regions including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Shenzhen, Jiangsu, Tianjin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Wuhan. The Report was drafted based on 4,951 verdicts.

Mr. Liu Zhenghe, Mr. Shen Jun, Ms. Sun Lin and Ms. Cui Yana were invited to coauthor the chapter of China of the Labour and Employment Disputes Review (2022), which is compiled by The Law Reviews. The book introduces and analyzes the labor legal systems and legal practices of major countries and regions in the world.

Ms. Liu Menglu has been elected as a part-time arbitrator of labor dispute in Guangzhou and handled a large number of labor arbitration cases.

Mr. Li Ming and Ms. Fang Yingchao has been awarded Star of AnJie Broad 2022.