The company has fewer than five employees. Can I skip labor insurance?

Many believe "under five employees, no need for labor and health insurance". That is wrong: if you employ anyone, they must be enrolled.

The difference for companies with fewer than five employees is that setting up a "labor insurance unit" is not mandatory; you can choose to set up:

• A labor insurance unit: full labor insurance (maternity, injury/sickness, disability, old age, death benefits) + occupational accident insurance + employment insurance + pension, total rate about 18–19%.
• An employment insurance unit: occupational accident insurance + employment insurance + pension, total rate about 7–8%.

In other words, health insurance, employment insurance, occupational accident insurance and pension are always required (student part-timers insured under their parents may skip health insurance); only "core labor insurance" is optional for companies under five. But without it, employees cannot claim the related benefits, so in practice most companies enroll fully as a basic protection for staff.