Employment Issues in China M&A Deals 中国并购交易中的劳动法问题

作者：刘琦 连煜雄 

Employment law issues have the potential to significantly affect M&A deals in most jurisdictions and can play a crucial role in deciding whether a deal goes ahead smoothly. A slight problem in an M&A transaction brought on by an employment law issue can cost both transacting parties time and money. In the worst cases, the presence of certain employment-related matters can thwart a potential deal entirely and force it to be abandoned.

在大多数国家，劳动法问题对并购交易可能产生重大影响，对交易能否顺利进行也起着关键作用。在并购交易中，劳动法方面的一个小问题可能会耗费交易双方大量的时间与金钱。在最坏情况下，一些劳动法相关的问题处理不慎，可能会实质性阻碍潜在交易的进行，甚至最终导致交易的失败。

Given the colossal costs that can stem from these labor disputes, it makes sense that employers or potential buyers be proactive and take steps that will cumulatively lower employment-related risk. It is essential that any party to an M&A transaction fully understands the relevant provisions and application of employment law and that they take all necessary precautions to reduce the risks associated with the transaction.

考虑到解决诸多劳动纠纷将会产生巨大的花费，用人单位或潜在的收购方有必要主动采取措施来逐步降低雇佣相关风险。并购交易的各方也有必要充分了解劳动法的相关规定及适用情况，并采取一切必要的防范措施来减少与交易相关的风险。

This article aims to provide a review of some of the typical employment issues that commonly arise during Chinese M&A deals. It also offers practical recommendations to employers as to how they can combat and overcome employment-related issues thereby reducing the overall legal and business risks that are often present throughout Chinese M&A deals.

本文旨在回顾中国并购交易中出现的一些典型和常见的劳动法问题，并向用人单位提供一些关于如何处理此类相关问题的实用建议，从而整体降低在中国并购交易中经常出现的法律与商业风险。

Impact of M&A Deals on 

Employment Issues

并购交易对劳动关系处理的影响

First and foremost, in China, the transfer of employees may only be effected by the termination and subsequent rehire of an employee. This differs somewhat to other jurisdictions, such as the UK, where employees are typically transferred automatically when a business is transferred from one owner to another. Moreover, due to the legal regime’s distinct way of handling the transfer of employees, a potential buyer may wish to weigh the advantages and disadvantages between acquiring the assets or acquiring the equity in the M&A deal, with the employment issues in mind.首先，在中国，员工在不同单位间的转移只能通过解除现有劳动关系和随后由新单位重新雇佣来实现，这与其他一些法域的做法有所不同。例如，在英国，当一项业务变更所有权人时，员工通常可自动转移。此外，考虑到根据法律规定，不同并购交易模式（资产收购或股权收购）项下员工转移问题的处理有所不同，潜在的收购方可能需要针对不同交易模式所产生的劳动法问题进行利弊权衡。1Equity Deal  股权交易

In an equity deal, the “employer” of the employees does not technically change when the seller’s equity in the target is transferred to the acquiring party. Chinese law does not require the new controllers of the company to enter into new employment contracts with the employees as part of the implementation of the merger since it is deemed that technically there was no change in the employment relationship. In an equity deal, from an employment perspective, the buyer merely steps into the shoes of the seller and the relationship between the employer and the employees is left undisturbed.

在股权交易中，当出售方将目标股权转让给收购方时，严格来说员工的“用人单位”主体本身不会发生变化。根据中国的法律规定，劳动关系在交易的过程中没有发生改变，所以对公司新的控制人而言，与员工重新签订劳动合同并非其实施并购的必经步骤。从劳动关系的角度而言，在一项股权交易中收购方只是取代了出售方的股东地位，但用人单位与员工间原先确立的劳动法律关系并没有受到影响。On the other hand, however, the negative consequences that come with an equity transaction are that the buyer will assume all pre-existing liabilities that the seller had incurred prior to the completion of the deal. In an equity deal the buyer will generally be forced to retain existing employees, including those which are under-performing and/or potentially redundant or surplus. In China, employers face increased difficulties, when compared with the UK or the USA, in carrying out restructuring after an M&A transaction due to the legal procedures that are in place. In practice, it is difficult for employers to produce the evidence necessary to meet the legal thresholds for ending employment for underperformance or redundancy.然而，另一方面，股权交易给劳动关系带来的负面影响是，收购方将继续承担出售方在完成交易前产生的所有债务和责任。股权交易中的收购方通常将不得不保留现有的员工，包括那些不胜任和/或可能冗余的员工。因此，基于中国法律的现状，与英国或美国相比，用人单位在并购交易后的重组过程中往往会面临更多的困难。尤其是实践中，用人单位往往很难提供足够的证据来以不胜任或经济性裁员为由合法解除劳动关系。Overall, however, in equity transactions, employers can be less concerned with employment issues that could potentially derail an M&A transaction because the employment relationship remains unchanged.不过，总体而言，由于股权交易中劳动关系维持不变，用人单位比较不需要担心可能由于劳动法方面的问题而导致并购交易失败。2Asset Deal  资产交易

In contrast, in an asset deal, specific assets and liabilities are acquired and taken from the seller by the buyer. This changing of hands brings with it a wider array of potential employment law concerns. There is often a need for consultation between employers and employee representatives when an asset deal is being considered as the deal will likely materially affect the interests of (at least some of) the employees. Unlike an equity transaction, an asset acquisition does not see the automatic transfer of employees and their contracts to the buyer. In order to transfer the employment arrangements to the buyer, the target company and its employees must first agree to terminate the existing employment contracts and then the amount of severance that is likely to be paid to the employees. Other issues such as unpaid salaries and benefits and who will pay these will also need to be addressed at this point before the deal can continue.

资产交易中，收购方从出售方手中接手特定的资产和负债。同股权交易相比，资产交易的这种换手过程中可能会产生更广泛的劳动法问题。在考虑进行一项资产交易时，用人单位通常需要和员工进行协商，因为交易可能会实质性影响到（至少一部分）员工的利益。与股权交易不同的是，资产并购中不会出现员工以及他们的劳动合同自动转移给收购方的情况。因此，为实现员工转移，目标公司与员工必须先同意解除员工现有的劳动合同，并对可能支付的经济补偿金进行约定。其他诸如尚未支付的工资和福利，以及谁将支付这些费用等问题，也需要在交易继续推进前得到解决。

On the other hand, the buyer is placed in a strong position for negotiating their future employment. The new employer can negotiate new employment contracts with employees that can include terms and conditions which are more preferable to it than those which were stipulated in the original contracts. Moreover, in an asset deal, the buyer bears no risk of taking on liabilities caused by the target’s previous non-compliance with PRC employment law. Additionally, the buyer also has the right to choose the employees it wishes to retain and can do so simply by arranging to enter into new employment contracts on a selective basis.另一方面，相较而言，收购方与员工在谈判未来的劳动合同方面通常处于有利地位。新的用人单位可以与员工协商订立新的劳动合同，并在其中约定与原合同规定相比对其更有利的条款和条件。资产交易中，收购方也无需承担因目标公司先前不遵守中国劳动法而产生的责任。并且，收购方也有权选择其希望保留的员工，并安排与其选中的员工签订新的劳动合同。

Common Employment Issues

 in M&A Deals in China

中国并购交易中常见的劳动法问题

1Severance Packages (Asset Deals only)  经济补偿金（仅限资产交易）

A common problem posed in M&A asset deals in China is that of severance: the transacting parties must agree on how to deal with the previous service period of each employee. Usually, this involves service years either being inherited by the new employer or being bought off by the seller upon termination. The latter allows for the new employer to employ the employees without having to recognize and subsequently pay out any prior service period. This does, however, come with other problems. In China, an employer must pay statutory severance calculated at the rate of one month’s average salary for each year of service. The “average salary” is the employee’s average salary during the preceding 12 months prior to the termination. The amount is also listed to an amount equal to three times the local city’s average salary during the last calendar year (which is not applicable to the calculation of the compensation for the service years prior to 1 January 2008). A regular problem in the severance process is created by the fact that employees will often seek to take advantage of pre-M&A severance negotiations and use them as an opportunity to negotiate better terms with their employers. Employees will often ask the seller for much higher severance payments than they would be entitled to under the statutory calculations. There have been extreme cases where, when the seller refuses their demands, employees have resorted to protest, strikes and even violence. Therefore, it is recommended that the buyer choose to recognize employees’ service and have the service years carried over. Not only is the risk of unrest and uncertainty caused by severance negotiation avoided but furthermore, by recognizing the service years the buyer also reduces immediate transaction costs and avoids losing any crucial employees that could be key to the business.

在中国的资产并购交易中，交易各方常会碰到是否需要向被转移的员工支付经济补偿金的问题，这涉及到各方必须就如何处理员工之前的工作年限的问题达成一致。通常情况下，这些先前的工作年限要么由新用人单位承继，要么被出售方在解除劳动合同时买断。买断工龄的情况下，新用人单位雇佣员工时无需就员工之前的工作年限支付经济补偿金。不过，这也带来了其他问题。在中国，用人单位必须根据员工的工作年限，按照每满一年支付一个月平均工资的标准向其支付法定经济补偿金。这里的“平均工资”是指员工在劳动合同解除或终止前12个月的月平均工资，不过最高不得超过当地上一年度社平工资水平的三倍（该封顶基数在计算针对2008年1月1日以前工作年限的经济补偿时不适用）。在解除劳动合同的过程中，员工常会利用并购前协商解除的机会，争取和出售方达成对其更有利的解除条件。比如，员工经常会要求出售方支付高于法定计算标准的经济补偿金。在一些极端的案例中，当出售方拒绝了员工的要求时，为了达到目的员工会采取抗议、罢工甚至暴力对抗的方式。因此，我们建议收购方选择承认员工之前的工作年限（可与将来的工作年限合并计算）。这不仅可以避免因协商解除失败而引发的各种混乱与不确定的风险，而且收购方也能够减少需要立即支付的交易成本，同时避免对公司业务起到关键作用的核心员工的流失。Whether recognition of service years from past employment would apply for other purposes, such as entitlement to statutory benefits (e.g. medical leave) and entitlement to an indefinite employment contract after ten years of service, remains controversial. In practice, courts have varying views on this issue. New employers are advised to clearly outline the issue in the contracts with their employees.对员工工作年限的承继，是否会同时影响员工其他与工作年限挂钩的权利和法定福利（如病假工资计算，工作年限满十年达到签订无固定劳动合同的条件等），仍然是一个存在争议的问题。司法实践中，仲裁机构和法院对此问题的观点不一。我们建议新用人单位与员工针对此问题进行明确约定。Moreover, the buyer in an M&A deal should consider whether the employees owe any non-competition or confidentiality obligations to their current employer that may impede their employment transfer to the new employer. If yes, a waiver should be sought from the current employer to release its employees from these obligations.另外，收购方还应考虑拟被转移的员工是否对其现用人单位负有一定的竞业限制和保密义务，并且该义务可能会对其在资产并购交易后受雇于新用人单位构成障碍。如果存在这样的情况，收购方应促使现用人单位免除该等员工的相关义务。2Overtime Pay  加班费Failure by a previous employer to properly pay its employees for their overtime work is another potential issue present in M&A deals in China. This issue has the potential to leave a buyer liable for the monies owed by the previous employer to the employee as the liability for it will be passed in an equity deal. Employees will retain the right to claim any accumulated overtime pay.
并购交易中存在的另一个潜在问题是前用人单位未向员工合法支付加班费。与资产交易不同，股权交易中这一问题可能导致收购方之后必须承担与未付加班费相关的责任，员工将始终保留主张任何累计的加班费的权利。3Employment Contracts  签订劳动合同Another employment issue in M&A deals in China is where the target company has failed to take out valid employment contracts with its employees. In China, an employer and employee must sign an employment contract and this contract must be executed within one month of the date on which the employee starts working for the company. Failing to have employees sign employment contracts can prove to be a very costly mistake for employers. In fact, for every month after the first month that the employee works without an employment contract, that employee is entitled to double the wages for the period worked. The limit to this is set at an amount equal to eleven months wage and moreover, an employer and employee will have been deemed to have entered into an open-ended employment contract if they do not sign a written employment contract within one year of the date on which the employee starts work. In an equity deal, a buyer, having taken on the obligations and liabilities of the seller, can be exposed to civil claims resulting from the lack of employment contracts with the employees at the acquired entity.
中国并购交易中的另一个劳动法问题是目标公司无法提供其与员工签订的有效的劳动合同。在中国，用人单位和员工必须自员工在用人单位开始工作之日起一个月内签订书面劳动合同。如果未与员工签订劳动合同，用人单位将会付出昂贵的代价。事实上，如果在第一个月过后仍未订立劳动合同，员工有权就随后的11个月主张获得双倍工资。此外，如果自员工开始工作之日起一年内未订立书面劳动合同，就视为在用人单位与员工之间订立了无固定期限劳动合同。股权交易中，由于收购方承担了出售方的义务和责任，如果被收购的公司未与员工签订书面劳动合同，将会间接地为收购方带来赔偿责任方面的风险。4Protection of Employee’s Personal Information in M&A Transactions  并购交易中的员工个人信息保护Another situation that may create employment law issues in M&A deals is where the protection of an employee's personal information is at risk. In M&A transactions, the buyer may request the target company to disclose its employees’ personal data (e.g. social security information) to effectively conduct due diligence. But to comply with PRC regulations on personal information protection, each party should ensure that the employees concerned are fully aware of the disclosure and use of their personal data in the transaction. Further, it is crucial to state in the M&A agreement that the employees’ personal data may only be used for purposes related to the transaction. And for its own protection, the seller should procure the buyer to ensure compliance with the law when using and processing employees’ personal data and to release the seller from liabilities resulted from illegal use.
在并购交易中另一个会引发劳动法问题的情况与员工个人信息的保护有关。在并购交易中，出于尽职调查等需要，目标公司可能需要向收购方披露员工的个人信息（如员工社会保险信息等）。为遵守中国法律项下有关个人信息保护的规定，交易各方应尽量确保所涉员工充分知晓其个人信息将在并购项目过程被披露和使用。出售方应当在与收购方的合同或协议中明确，收购方所获悉的员工个人信息仅可用于与交易有关的目的。另外，从保护出售方的角度出发，我们建议出售方促使收购方确保其在使用和处理员工个人信息时遵守相关法律规定，并且要使出售方免于对收购方的任何违法的信息使用行为承担任何责任。5Information and Consultation Requirements

提前告知和沟通

Pursuant to PRC labor laws and regulations, if an employer’s decision may affect its employees’ vital interests, the employer shall adequately consult with the employees and the labor union and hear their opinions.

根据中国的劳动法律法规，用人单位决定直接涉及其员工切身利益的重大事项时，应当听取工会和员工的意见，与其进行充分的沟通。

However, the consultation requirement is vaguely worded and no penalties are specified in case of violation. Therefore in practice, few companies comply with the requirement. But it is theoretically possible that any decision on significant issues (such as a share or asset transfer) taken without consultation can be challenged and invalidated. To minimize the risk, an employer, especially a state-owned enterprise, would best hold a consultation session with its employees and the labor union in advance of a major decision.

有关前述沟通要求，法律规定上措辞含糊，而且并未设定任何有关违反该要求的惩罚性后果。因此，实践中鲜有企业真正遵循该要求。不过，用人单位在重大事项上（如股权或资产转让）未与员工进行沟通即做出决定，理论上仍存在相关决定被质疑甚至被推翻的风险。为在最大程度上降低该风险，用人单位（尤其是国有企业）最好能在做出有关交易的重大决策前预先与工会和员工进行沟通。

Conclusion and Recommendation

总结和建议

In conclusion, to avoid potentially employment issues that are often present in China M&A deals, it is recommended that the buyer use employment lawyers as early as possible so that a full and thorough due diligence investigation can be carried out against the target company and all its employees. More often than not, employment issues can be detected by effective due diligence and remedied quickly before things have a chance to escalate. Indeed, buyers and sellers should work together in order to minimize the risk of unrest and instability. A detailed strategy as to how to effectively combat initial employee unrest should be devised in order to avoid workplace disgruntlement caused by the transfer escalating into full blown workplace unrest. Additionally, it is recommended that the buyer seeks contractual protection where they choose to assume liabilities from the seller. Pushing the seller to make representations and warranties over possibly hidden and unforeseeable additional costs, such as unpaid overtime, can help reduce risk and can offer the buyer indemnity with losses that arise from legal non-compliance with PRC employment law. 
综上所述，为解决中国并购交易中经常出现的劳动法问题，我们建议收购方尽早聘请专业的劳动法律师，以便开展针对目标公司及其员工的全面彻底的尽职调查。通常情况下，收购方可以通过有效的尽职调查发现存在于交易中的劳动法问题，并在事态升级前迅速补救。事实上，收购方和出售方应该共同努力，以减少出现混乱局面的风险。为有效平息老员工的过激反应，交易双方应当制定一份详细的策略和方案，以避免因为人员转移产生的部分不满情绪蔓延升级为整个工作场所的混乱局面。此外，如果收购方选择承担出售方的债务，我们建议可以通过有效的合同约定来使收购方获得补偿与保护。敦促出售方对可能被隐藏且无法预见的额外成本（例如未支付的加班费）作出陈述与保证将有助于收购方降低交易的风险，同时，收购方如果因出售方违反中国劳动法而遭受损失，还可以据此要求出售方对其进行补偿。

劳动法专栏往期文章

10.Compliance Issues on Employees' Personal Information

作者介绍  刘琦  

合伙人

021- 2613 6125

[e-mail]

刘琦律师毕业于华东政法大学和德国法兰克福大学，分别获得法学学士和法学硕士学位。刘律师具有超过10年的法律从业经验，主要业务领域为劳动与雇佣法律和外商投资并购。

刘律师拥有丰富的涉外法律服务经验，曾在一流国际、国内律师事务所工作十余年。刘律师擅长为跨国企业提供高质量的人力资源法律服务，包括提供日常法律咨询，高管解雇谈判，法律风险评估，人力资源合规，劳动合同、规章制度及其他雇佣相关的法律文件的起草与修订，劳务派遣与人力资源外包，员工安置及遣散，外国人在华就业和居留相关事宜，劳动争议解决等方面的法律服务。

 连煜雄  

顾问

021- 2613 6129

[e-mail]

连煜雄律师毕业于中南财经政法大学和厦门大学，分别获得法学学士和法学硕士学位。连律师具有超过10年的法律从业经验，主要业务领域为劳动与雇佣法律和外商投资并购。

连律师擅长为各类内外资企业提供高质量的人力资源法律服务，包括日常法律咨询，法律风险评估，提供合规整体方案，审查、起草和修改劳动合同、规章制度及其他劳动法律文件，处理外国人在华就业和居留的相关事宜，为客户及其员工提供培训服务，设计员工安置方案，高管解雇/离职等。

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