On 31 January 2020, the Beijing Municipal People's Government issued the Notice on Flexibly Arranging Work for Enterprises in this City during the Prevention and Control of the Novel Coronavirus Infection Pneumonia Epidemic.

According to the notice, employees of companies in the following sectors may require their employees to attend work as normal prior to 10 February 2020:

Employers must take preventive measures such as taking the temperature of employees and promptly and accurately reporting relevant information to the authorities.

Employees of other companies are required to work from home, where the company's business and a specific employee's work responsibilities permit. Where these conditions are lacking, companies must schedule employees to work irregular hours or on flexible shifts in smaller groups to limit the potential spread of the disease.

In addition, on 31 January 2020, the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Department (Beijing Labour Bureau) and the Beijing Municipal Health Commission jointly issued the Notice on Postponing the Care of Minor Children by School Workers to Prevent and Control the Epidemic, which permits each household to have one employee care for minor children at home while the start of the new school semester is delayed in response to the epidemic, requires employers to pay these employees wages as if they worked in full attendance, and prohibits employers from terminating the labour relationship with these employees.

However, this employee-friendly position has been twisted on 12 February 2020 by a supplemental notice jointly issued by the Beijing Labour Bureau and the Beijing Municipal Education. According to the second notice, companies are required to co-operate with employees who need to care for minor children during the epidemic prevention and control period and arrange for them to work at home by phone and internet, to schedule flexible and off-hours shifts to enable them to work and to adjust the employee's leave days for the calendar year. The notice also asks families with elders capable of caring for minor children to pitch in.

For more related information, see Legal update, New Articles on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sources: Government website, Notice of Flexibly Arranging Work for Enterprises in Beijing under Coronavirus Outbreak and Notice of Postponing the Care of Minor Children by School Workers to Prevent and Control the Epidemic (including its Supplemental Notice).