School penalized nearly 70,000 yuan in damages for dismissing pregnant female teacher

This article is reprinted from: Southern Workers’ Daily

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Our report: Recently, the Intermediate People’s Court of Jieyang City concluded a second-instance trial of a labor dispute case, ruling that the termination of a pregnant female teacher by a certain school was an illegal dismissal. The court ordered the school to pay Wu Xue (pseudonym) compensation, maternity wages, and other amounts totaling over 69,600 yuan, legally safeguarding the rights and interests of pregnant female employees.

In September 2018, Wu Xue was employed as a teacher at a school in Jieyang. The two parties did not sign a written labor contract. In August 2024, the school, knowing Wu Xue was pregnant, dismissed her citing “low enrollment numbers” and failed to pay her maternity insurance, resulting in Wu Xue being unable to receive maternity benefits after giving birth to a son in November of the same year. Wu Xue applied for labor dispute arbitration with the local labor arbitration committee. The arbitration confirmed the existence of a factual labor relationship and ordered the school to pay over 69,600 yuan in compensation, wages, and related amounts. The school was dissatisfied and filed a lawsuit.

After the first trial, the court confirmed that there was a factual labor relationship between Wu Xue and the school, and ordered the school to pay her economic compensation for the termination of the labor contract, maternity wages, summer and winter holiday wages, totaling 69,600 yuan.

The school was dissatisfied and appealed to Jieyang Intermediate Court, claiming Wu Xue was a temporary part-time teacher hired by the school, with no labor relationship, and that her dismissal was due to her teaching incompetence.

The Jieyang Intermediate Court held that Wu Xue had worked at the school for six years, accepted the school’s teaching management, and the school paid her monthly wages and had social insurance contributions for her. Based on the facts of employment and considering factors such as personality subordination, economic dependence, and organizational subordination, it was determined that both parties had a factual labor relationship. Since the school failed to provide evidence proving Wu Xue’s teaching incompetence or serious violations of school rules, and could not justify her dismissal, the dismissal was illegal. The school was required to pay Wu Xue double the economic compensation standard as damages. Additionally, because the school did not purchase maternity insurance for Wu Xue and did not pay her full wages during summer and winter holidays at the minimum wage standard, Wu Xue was entitled to compensation for her 2024 maternity wages and the difference in summer and winter holiday wages. The Jieyang Intermediate Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the original judgment.

Legal Explanation

Dismissing “Three-Period” Female Employees Constitutes Illegal Termination

According to Articles 42 and 45 of the Labor Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China, as well as the “Special Regulations on the Labor Protection of Female Employees,” employers are prohibited from terminating the labor contract during a female employee’s pregnancy, maternity leave, or breastfeeding period. This is a special legal protection for “Three-Period” female employees. If an employer dismisses a “Three-Period” female employee solely on grounds of “pregnancy,” “job specificity,” or “safety considerations,” it constitutes an illegal termination, and the employer must pay the employee double the economic compensation as damages. However, if the employer has evidence proving that the “Three-Period” female employee has committed “serious violations of company rules,” “gross negligence,” “fraud,” or has caused significant damage to the employer, as stipulated in Article 39 of the Labor Contract Law, the employer may lawfully terminate the contract without paying compensation.

(Jieyang Legal Announcement)