The company grows, a new plant opens, shifts are introduced or confidentiality rules are tightened — every governance change of this kind pulls the internal labour regulations along with it. The common mistake is issuing the amendment like an internal memo and applying it immediately, while the law treats amendment as its own sequenced procedure, close to starting over.
The four steps of an amendment
Step one, review and draft: identify which group of core contents in clause 2, Article 118 of the 2019 Labour Code the amended clause belongs to (working hours, workplace order, occupational safety, harassment prevention, asset and secret protection, misconduct and sanctions…), because touching misconduct definitions or sanctions is the most sensitive zone. Step two, consult the workplace representative organisation if the company has one — clause 3, Article 118 makes consultation compulsory before issuing or amending the regulations; keep the comments and minutes on file.
Step three, issue and register: within ten days of issuing the amended regulations, the company must file the registration dossier with the provincial labour authority where the business is registered (currently the Department of Home Affairs after the apparatus reorganisation), under the Article 119 mechanism mirroring first registration. Step four, communicate and apply: the regulations must be notified to every employee and their core contents posted at the necessary places in the workplace.
When the amendment takes effect and what the registrar does
Under Article 119, labour regulations take effect fifteen days after the competent authority receives a complete, valid registration dossier. Within seven working days of receipt, if any clause contradicts the law, the authority notifies the company in writing to amend, supplement and re-register that part. The practical consequence: an amendment has no force on the day it is signed — disciplining an employee under a new clause before its effective date is disciplining on a basis not yet in force.
A second trap is amending “quietly” through the staff handbook or internal management documents while leaving the registered regulations untouched. In a dispute, the disciplinary basis is tested against the duly issued and registered internal labour regulations, not against any other management document. A sanction clause that lives only in a handbook and is absent from the regulations cannot support discipline — exactly the spirit of the Article 127 ban on disciplining conduct the regulations do not cover.
Frequent amendment scenarios and transition notes
The three most common triggers: adding new misconduct (rules on monitoring devices, social media, data confidentiality) to create a sanction basis; updating the sexual harassment clause or handling procedure to match new legal requirements; and adjusting working hours and shift patterns when production expands. For conduct occurring before the amendment’s effective date, non-retroactivity governs: discipline follows the regulations in force at the time of the act.
Companies with branches in several provinces should note that registration follows each place of business registration or dependent unit as the local labour authority directs, and a uniform set of regulations must remain compatible with each local registration. Once the amendment is effective, HR should collect employees’ acknowledgements of having been briefed on the new version — key evidence when the company later needs to prove the worker knew the rule before breaking it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What procedure amends the regulations?
Four steps: (1) review and draft the amended clauses; (2) consult the workplace representative organisation if one exists, under clause 3, Article 118 of the 2019 Labour Code; (3) issue and file the registration dossier within ten days of issuance with the provincial labour authority (Department of Home Affairs); (4) notify all employees and post the core contents at the workplace.
Is employee consultation required?
Yes, where the company has a workplace representative organisation (a grassroots union or an employee organisation at the enterprise): consultation before issuing or amending the regulations is compulsory. Comments should be minuted and kept with the registration file; skipping this step is the procedural defect most often probed in disputes.
Must the amendment be re-registered?
Yes. Amended regulations are registered again under the same Article 119 mechanism of the 2019 Labour Code: file within ten days of issuance; the authority has seven working days to require correction of any unlawful clause. Editing only an internal handbook without re-registering leaves the new clause unusable as a disciplinary basis.
When does it take effect?
Fifteen days after the competent authority receives the complete, valid registration dossier. Conduct predating that point is still judged under the previous regulations in force when it occurred — the new clause, especially a heavier one, is never applied retroactively.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council