China’s top legislative body is discouraging state-owned enterprises from firing employees who flout the country’s family-planning rules by having a third child.

The legislative affairs committee of the National People’s Congress said Thursday that employees with a third child will instead be subject to “administrative sanctions” — including warnings, demotions, and dismissals — in accordance with the law. The authority said it would further study the relevant legal issues and make legislative amendments to address ambiguous rules involving “excessive births.”

The Chinese government relaxed its decadeslong one-child policy in 2016, allowing couples to have two children in hopes of undoing some of the economic damage believed to stem from the country’s falling birth rate. In the past, violating family-planning policies could lead to heavy fines and even dismissal.

Last year, a woman in the southern Guangdong province was fired from her teaching job over having a third child, while her husband was dismissed from his post as a public security officer.

The committee’s statement did not say whether the rule should apply to private firms. (Image: People Visual)