Peasant laborers enjoy less job security than local workers because they mostly work in foreign-owned, rural and private enterprises. Following economic reforms of the mid-1980s, many of these private enterprises now legally employ workers on a temporary basis. Private sector employers often dismiss workers after employing them for two to five years, typically for no reason other than a desire to hire younger workers. One incentive for employers to fire women as they enter their mid-20s is to avoid paying maternity leave. Peasant laborers who lose their jobs have little recourse.
Arbitrary dismissals are common and legal.
And while approximately half of local Guangdong workers receive unemployment insurance, few migrant workers do. They work seven days a week, and say their working hours often stretch through the night. Their hours are not unusual. Workers in these factories typically receive only two regular rest days per month. Generally, they work overtime for four consecutive nights, with no overtime for the fifth night.