High Temperature Allowance Standards in China’s Major Cities and Provinces

August 5, 2013 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: 5 minutes

Aug. 5 – In June 2012, China released the “Administrative Measures on Heat Stroke Prevention,” which requires employers to provide high temperature allowance to employees working outdoors in temperatures above 35℃ and indoors in temperatures above 33℃.

However, even with these regulations in place, not many employees receive such allowances. Many companies are too concerned about their costs to give out the high temperature allowance and some of them have taken advantage of the loopholes in laws and regulations to avoid the payment. Although relevant rules stipulate that employees may file a complaint with competent authorities if their employers fail to provide the appropriate allowances, they seldom do so due to fears of being fired. Besides, there are many workers who do not even know about such allowances. Therefore, some experts suggest that labor unions should shoulder the responsibility to protects workers’ rights and interests, and ensure they receive the relevant benefits and allowances.

According to government regulations, the high temperature allowance is part of an employee’s salary, and payment is mandatory. A selection of the high temperature allowance standards in China’s major cities and provinces can be found below.

Shanghai
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay a high temperature allowance to such employees from June to September on a monthly basis.

The standard for high temperature allowance is RMB200 per month for each person.

Beijing
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors, and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay a high temperature allowance to such employees from June to August on a monthly basis.

The standard for high temperature allowance shall be no lower than RMB120 per month for employees engaged in outdoor activities, and RMB90 per month for employees who work indoors.

Tianjin
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors in temperatures above 35℃ and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall be obligated to pay the appropriate high temperature allowance to such employees.

The standard for high temperature allowance in Tianjin shall be calculated at 12 percent of the average daily wage of employees in the preceding year. The 2013 standard is RMB21 per day for each person.

Zhejiang Province
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors in temperatures above 35℃ and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay the appropriate high temperature allowance to such employees from June to September.

The standard for high temperature allowance in Zhejiang Province is RMB200 per day for each person.

Jiangsu Province
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay the high temperature allowance to such employees from June to September on a monthly basis.

The standard for high temperature allowance in Jiangsu Province is RMB200 per day for each person.

Guangdong Province
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay the high temperature allowance to such employees from June to October on a monthly basis.

The standard for high temperature allowance is RMB150 per month per person or RMB6.9 per person per day.

Shaanxi Province
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors in temperatures above 35℃ and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay the high temperature allowance to such employees from June 1 to September,30.

The standard for high temperature allowance is RMB10 per day for each person.

Shandong Province
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay the high temperature allowance to such employees from June to September. Enterprises with low profits may choose to pay such allowance for August and September only.

The standard for the high temperature allowance is RMB120 per month per person.

Hubei Province
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors in temperatures above 35℃ and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay the high temperature allowance to such employees from July to September.

The standard for high temperature allowance is RMB8 per day per person.

Sichuan Province
For employers that arrange employees to work outdoors in temperatures above 35℃ and employers that fail to take effective measures to lower the temperature of indoor workplaces to below 33℃, they shall pay the high temperature allowance to such employees from June to September.

The standard for high temperature allowance is RMB10 to RMB 12 per day per person.

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