China: Typical Labour Dispute Cases in New Forms of Employment in Chengdu (2025): Recognising the Employment Relationship Between a Live Streamer and a Company

Among the ten typical cases concerning labour disputes in new forms of employment, newly published by Chengdu for 2025, a typical case has emerged regarding the determination of employment relationships in the online live streaming industry under the digital economy. In this case, the arbitration committee pierced the veil of the parties’ legal relationship by conducting substantive examination from the core characteristics of employment relationships, revealing the essence of the enterprise using civil agreements to conceal and evade employment relationships.

In this case, Mr. Jin entered into a Live Streaming Collaboration Agreement and a Collaborative Streamer Live Streaming and Commission Management Agreement with a cultural tourism company. According to the agreements, the company engaged Mr. Jin to conduct live streaming promotions of the company’s products on platforms such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu, with Mr. Jin’s daily live streaming time not to be less than 4 hours. The company’s payment to Mr. Jin consisted of a fixed monthly fee of 5000 yuan and a share of the live streaming revenue. At the same time, Mr. Jin was required to complete the live streaming tasks according to the company’s requirements and arrangements, comply with all regulations and management systems of the company’s platform, but the two parties would not establish an employment relationship. Starting 21 September 2024, Mr. Jin conducted live streams in the company’s designated park, using equipment, props, and accounts provided by the company. His primary work was selling tickets to the company’s park, and the live streaming schedule was agreed upon between Mr. Jin and the company’s management. If he needed to postpone or reschedule, he had to obtain the company’s consent. On 28 September 2024, Mr. Jin was injured by a parrot provided by the company during a live stream. After that, Mr. Jin left the company and did not work again. Due to the company’s failure to pay the cooperation fees, Mr. Jin filed a labour arbitration, requesting an order for the company to pay his wages.

Although both parties agreed in the Live Streaming Cooperation Agreement not to establish an employment relationship, according to the provisions of Article 1 of the Notice on Relevant Matters Concerning the Establishment of Employment Relationships, Mr. Jin and the company had a factual employment relationship, which constituted a dominant labour management relationship and conformed to the essential characteristics of an employment relationship. First, both Mr. Jin and the company were qualified to establish an employment relationship. Second, the props and accounts for Mr. Jin’s live streaming were provided by the company, and the time, content, and location of the live streaming were determined by the company, and Mr. Jin was required to comply with the company’s platform regulations and management systems. Third, after completing the live streaming tasks, the company paid Mr. Jin a fixed monthly salary of 5000 yuan, and Mr. Jin had no right to negotiate the salary. Therefore, it can be confirmed that an employment relationship was formed between Mr. Jin and the company, and the company should pay Mr. Jin his wages.

In light of the above reasonings, the Labour and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Commission of Qingyang District, Chengdu City ruled that an employment relationship existed between Mr. Jin and the Cultural Tourism Company and ordered the company to pay Mr. Jin his wages.

Key Action Points

In this case, the fact that the employee lacks bargaining power over work arrangements and salary standards reflects that a de facto employment relationship is formed despite of the civil agreement signed between the parties. Employers in live streaming and other digital economy industries should fully recognise that when the worker is lack of bargaining power over work arrangement and remuneration or they implement continuous and dominant labour management over streamers through means such as account control, content review, and performance appraisal, even if they adopt flexible salary models such as revenue sharing, the existence of employment relationships cannot be denied.