Proper consultation with companies before the passing of the contentious labour contract law could have prevented the present tug-of-war over the new regulations, aggrieved bosses and experts say.
'The passing of the law was too rushed,' said Zhang Guoquan, Guangdong Sanyou Group chairman and a delegate to the National People's Congress. 'The voices of the corporations were not properly taken into account.'
He said that unlike the property law, where Beijing repeatedly sought opinions from stakeholders and smoothed out major conflicts before approving it, debates over the labour contract law showed no signs of abating.
'The property law was very controversial, too, but most people accepted it after it was passed,' Mr Zhang said. 'In comparison, [the labour law] is still very controversial despite being passed. There are specific clauses being disputed.'
Clauses compelling firms to sign open-ended contracts with workers should they complete two consecutive fixed-term contracts or eight years of service have been the main target of employers' anger. 'We feel pressured,' Mr Zhang said. 'We have to be calculating when signing contracts with employees, and there is this heavy feeling hanging over the relationship between the labourers and us. Better consultation with corporations could have made the law more readily acceptable.'
Liu Xiqian, another NPC delegate and chairman of Yuwang Group in Shandong province, said there had probably been some consultation with firms over the new law, but he had not been included in any talks.
'The intention of the law was skewed towards helping the weaker party [the workers] and the corporations' voice was feeble, even if it was heard,' Mr Liu said.