중국 정리해고 법제에 관한 연구 - 월마트 창더 분점 사례를 중심으로

As China’s economy is entering into the ‘New Normal’ Era of medium-speed growth from high-speed growth, layoffs are inevitable triggered by the economic downturn and industrial structure adjustment. This leads to frequent labor disputes whose classic example would be the Wal-Mart Changde branch case in the Hunan Province. This article is dealing with two issues focusing on the Wal-Mart Changde Branch case. First, this paper attempts to make a theoretical study on Chinese legislation on layoffs. Second, it introduces the Wal-Mart Changde Branch case, and reviews the judgment of the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee and its perspective on key issues. The Wal-Mart Changde Branch case was a relatively simple dispute where an employer claimed the termination of employment contracts and employees requested layoffs. However, it became complicated when the Chinese government supported the employer’s side. The Chinese government had concerns on the growing capacity of labor NGOs and could not ignore the possible impact on the local economy. As a result, the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee ruled that the case was a legitimate termination of employment contract, not layoffs in spite of many legal issues. The recent economic crisis in Greece raised the uncertainty of the Chinese economy as well as the global economy, and conflicts over layoffs have become a hot potato in Chinese labor relations. Having said that, however, a research on layoffs legislation in China can hardly be found in Korea. Based on this observation, this paper will try to help Korean readers understand layoffs legislation and labor relations in China by investigating the meaning of the recent Wal-Mart Changde branch case and the legitimacy of layoffs.