China, on Monday, released its first set of rules to protect the rights and interests of workers who have passed the statutory retirement age, filling a gap in the country's labor legal framework as the population ages.

The "Interim Provisions on the Protection of the Basic Rights and Interests of Over-Age Workers" will take effect on July 1, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said.

The rules were jointly issued by the ministry and four other government agencies: the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the State Taxation Administration, and the National Healthcare Security Administration.

The provisions apply to employers who hire workers beyond the statutory retirement age, as well as individuals who retired early under relevant policies and are later rehired.

In accordance with the rules, employers must sign written work agreements with over-age workers. The agreements must specify contract duration, duties, work location, working hours, rest and leave, remuneration, social insurance, labor protection, working conditions, and occupational hazard prevention measures.

Employers are required to pay full wages on time, with remuneration no lower than the local minimum wage. The provision targets the widespread practice of underpaying older workers, a problem often linked to their legally ambiguous employment status.

Employers must comply with statutory working hour limits and generally prohibit overtime for over-age workers. They are also barred from assigning hazardous tasks or work that could harm workers' physical or mental health.

Employers must provide workplace safety and occupational health training, implement relevant standards, and include overage workers in work-related injury insurance coverage.

Over-age workers who continue working while already receiving basic pension benefits will not see those benefits affected, the rules said.

Workers have the right to file complaints with human resources and social security authorities.

In turn, over-age workers are expected to abide by professional ethics and employers' internal labor rules, implement safety and health standards, and complete assigned tasks.

Labor unions are empowered to safeguard the legal rights of overage workers, supervise employer compliance, and demand corrections for violations. Unions must also provide support to older workers who pursue arbitration or litigation against employers.

China is in a historic transition period for retirement. A plan approved in September 2024 began gradually raising the statutory retirement age over 15 years starting in 2025.

Male workers will see their retirement age rise to 63 from 60. For female workers, it will increase to 55 or 58 — depending on their job roles — from 50 or 55.

As of the end of 2025, China had more than 320 million people aged 60 and above, according to official figures. Experts estimate that the number of over-age workers is between 87 million and 120 million. These workers are mainly concentrated in labor-intensive sectors such as catering, sanitation, security, and construction.

Chinese authorities are encouraging human resources service agencies to provide job placement and employment support for older workers.

The rules were drafted after a monthlong public consultation that concluded in August.

"For a long time, older workers who stayed on the job past retirement age were treated as having a simple service contract, not an employment relationship, so they fell outside the protections of labor laws," Lin Jia, a law professor at Renmin University of China, told Xinhua News Agency.

The new provisional rules, she said, no longer use the existence of a formal employment relationship as the sole test for protection. Instead, they focus on the fact that these older workers are performing real work.

In a media release, a ministry official said the regulations adopt three main principles.

First, they decouple over-age workers' rights from the formal employment relationship to address long-standing protection gaps. Second, they specify basic entitlements such as pay, rest breaks, workplace safety, and injury coverage, while improving complaint mechanisms. Third, they balance safeguarding older workers' basic rights with controlling costs for employers, clearly defining legal obligations for both sides.

lilei@chinadaily.com.cn