Before changing jobs or cities: the accounts to count and the procedures to handle

What changing jobs or cities touches is scattered across §2, §4, §5, §7, §11, §15, §19 and several other sections. Below, first come the things to check before you decide, sorted into four accounts: health, people and relationships, time, and money. Then, in time order, come the procedures to handle before you leave, when you start the new job, and after you move. Each item says only what to check and what to do; the numbers and the basis are in the entry pointed to after the item. Whether to go, and where, is for you to work out; no verdict is given here. If you were laid off by your company, follow the other long article, What to do first after being laid off.

Before you decide: the health account

1. If the new position involves night shifts, count it in years. Every additional 5 years of night work adds about 7% more cardiovascular disease. Put this account in when you pick a job; it costs nothing to do. See §2.39 (the longer you work night shifts, the higher your cardiovascular risk).
2. Find out how many hours a week you will actually work. Working 70 hours a week and working 56 produce almost the same output. See §3.13 (don't keep adding to your weekly work hours).
3. If the position involves dust, noise or chemicals, ask three questions at the interview: is there an occupational disease hazard, is it written into the contract, and who pays for the pre-employment medical exam. See §19.9 (before taking a job with dust, noise or chemicals).
4. The new employer arranges and pays for all three occupational health checkups, before starting, during the job and when leaving. See §19.9 (the three occupational health checkups are arranged and paid for by the employer).

Before you decide: people and relationships

1. If you want to leave because you have been bullied at work for a long time, write it down and keep the evidence first. People who are bullied later have about 60% higher risk of heart disease and stroke. Changing jobs costs the most, and whether to go is for you to work out. See §19.16 (bullied at work for a long time).
2. When you move to a new city, the people you used to see often become distant. People who have very little contact with others have about 30% higher probability of dying over the same period. Once you arrive, treat seeing people regularly as a health expense. See §22.9 (treat "seeing people regularly" as a health expense).
3. If you are changing cities to live with a long-distance partner, the hurdle is the first three months after moving in together. Of reunited couples, a third break up within 3 months. See §10.6 (the first three months after moving in together).
4. If you have just met a loss or a change like unemployment and someone urges you to quit and start fresh in another place, push the decision back three months. Talk it through first with someone who has no stake in it. See §29.12 (put off every big decision that can't be undone).
5. Put off an important decision until after you've slept on it, and don't settle it late at night. See §3.10 (don't make big decisions late at night).

Before you decide: the time account

1. First see how long the one-way trip from the new home to work takes. A one-way trip 30 minutes shorter saves 5 hours a week. See §4.18 (put commute time first when choosing where to live).
2. The commute account is disputed. There are also studies saying a long commute can be offset by a better job or better housing. See §4.18 (shorten the one-way commute).
3. How many years you've already put in at your current employer doesn't count toward this question. Count only how much more you will still put in and how much you can still get back. See §4.3 (look only at future cost and future return).
4. If you plan to try the new city for a while first, write one sentence before you go: if I haven't reached a certain target by a certain date, I stop. See §4.2 (write down your exit condition before you start).

Before you decide: the money account

1. If you are quitting with no next job lined up, first check whether you have an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of living expenses. See §5.27 (an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of living expenses).
2. Don't take "salaries are high, I read online" to mean that the trade is short of workers. Look up the shortage-occupation catalog and subsidy catalog of the target city. See §23.12 (the shortage-occupation catalog and subsidy catalog).
3. In national per-capita consumption in 2025, food took 29.3% and housing 21.7%. When job hunting, ask whether food and housing are provided; a job that provides them wipes out those two big items. See §7.17 (cut housing and food to the minimum).
4. If you plan not to join an employer and work flexibly, you have to pay your pension and medical insurance in full yourself. By the local contribution base, that is over a thousand yuan a month. See §31.11 (not joining an employer means flexible employment).
5. If you want to quit and go back to school, work it out as a calculation. Compare the few extra years of earlier wages with the annual income gap over the decades that follow. See §23.6 (turn "study or work" into a calculation).
6. If you are leaving because the company owes you wages or doesn't pay social insurance, you may be entitled to severance even if you are the one who resigns. Don't sign "resigned voluntarily for personal reasons." See §19.7 (don't sign "resigned for personal reasons").

Before you hand in your resignation

1. If you signed a non-compete agreement (竞业协议), first check whether it can bind you at all. A non-compete can bind only senior managers, senior technical staff and people with a confidentiality duty, for at most 2 years. See §11.12 (if you signed a non-compete agreement).
2. During the non-compete period the company must pay compensation monthly. Where no amount was agreed, it is 30% of your average monthly wage over the 12 months before leaving. See §11.12 (if you signed a non-compete agreement).
3. If the agreement is valid and the company is paying monthly, and you still go to work for a competitor, you will owe a penalty. See §11.12 (if you signed a non-compete agreement).
4. Annual leave you have not finished is settled at departure, prorated by how long you worked that year. Don't sign a form that "voluntarily gives up annual leave." See §19.2 (annual leave is based on accumulated working years).
5. Have any overtime pay you are owed settled too. A labor arbitration claim for wages or overtime must be filed within 1 year after you leave. See §19.1 (overtime pay) and §8.19 (labor arbitration, 1 year).
6. Before returning your computer and handing back your accounts, save your pay slips, attendance records, labor contract, social insurance records and chat records. See §19.8 (save before you leave).
7. For a conversation that may turn hostile, just turn on the recording. In a conversation you take part in yourself, you don't need to get the other side's consent first. See §8.41 (just turn on the recording).

The days you leave the old employer

1. Ask the employer for a certificate of termination of the labor contract (离职证明) that states the contract term, the leaving date, your position and how many years you worked there. The employer must also transfer your personnel file and social insurance within 15 days. See §19.17 (the termination certificate).
2. The termination certificate is your written proof that you have ended the contract with your former employer. If a new employer hires someone who has not ended their contract and causes the former employer a loss, it is jointly liable. See §19.17 (the termination certificate).
3. Hand over account access in full, and don't delete data or change passwords, even if the company owes you money. See §11.6 (hand over account access in full).
4. Don't take the company's source code, customer lists or technical documents, and don't upload them to a personal cloud drive. See §11.7 (don't take source code).
5. If your job involved dust, noise or chemicals, get the leaving-job checkup before you go, then ask for a copy of your occupational health surveillance file. If the leaving-job checkup has not been done, the employer cannot end your contract. See §19.9 (occupational health checkups).
6. If you receive a lump-sum payment for ending the contract, check the individual income tax first. The part within 3 times the local average employee wage of the previous year is tax-exempt. See §19.18 (check individual income tax on severance first).
7. If there will be a gap and you did not resign of your own accord, register as unemployed and claim unemployment insurance benefits. You must have paid in for a full year to claim. See §7.1 (unemployment insurance benefits).
8. During the gap, fix your daily routine: get up on schedule and put job hunting in a fixed daily plan. See §29.3 (after losing a job, first fix your daily routine).

When signing at the new employer

1. Read the onboarding documents from start to finish, ask on the spot about anything you don't understand, and photograph them to keep. See §8.17 (read the whole paper before you sign).
2. Check the probation period. For a contract of less than 1 year, at most 1 month; for 1 to 3 years, at most 2 months; for over 3 years, at most 6 months. See §19.3 (the probation period has a legal cap).
3. Probation pay cannot be below the lowest grade for the same position or 80% of the wage in the contract, and cannot be below the local minimum wage. A company can put you on probation only once. See §19.3 (the probation period has a legal cap).
4. Social insurance is paid from the first day of work, whether or not you are on probation. See §19.3 (the probation period has a legal cap).
5. If you write code or do design, read the intellectual property clauses in the contract carefully. For software written mainly with the company's equipment, internal network or business data, for which the company bears responsibility, the copyright belongs to the company. See §11.13 (code written with company resources belongs to the company).
6. If the new employer asks you to sign a non-compete while you are employed, it is valid even if the company pays nothing extra. See §11.12 (if you signed a non-compete agreement).

Finding a place to live in the new city

1. When choosing where to live, count the green space nearby; it costs nothing. Don't read this as "going to the park will extend your life." See §22.10 (count the green space nearby).
2. Write into the contract, before signing, how large the deposit is, when it will be returned and in what circumstances it can be deducted from. See §15.1 (the deposit amount, return time and deductions).
3. Before signing, go to the real estate registration center to check ownership and mortgages. Pay everything by transfer, with a note such as "rent for such-and-such home, such month." See §15.6 (check the ownership certificate and mortgage status).
4. Pay rent and deposit directly to the landlord, not through an agent's hands. See §15.3 (agents may not collect and pay rent and deposits on your behalf).
5. If you rent a long-term-rental apartment, first check whether it has a publicly listed fund supervision account, and don't pay a year in advance just for a lower price. See §15.4 (the fund supervision account).
6. Don't rent a partitioned room. Kitchens, bathrooms, balconies and basement storage rooms may not be lived in. See §15.8 (don't rent a partitioned room).
7. If the home is sold during your lease, the lease stays valid and you don't have to move. See §15.5 (the lease stays valid).
8. If the landlord cuts off water or power, changes the locks or comes by to threaten you into leaving, call the police first and get a record of the response. See §15.2 (call the police first and keep evidence).
9. You can withdraw housing provident fund money (公积金) to pay rent. After you submit the application, the provident fund center must reply within 3 days. See §5.3 (the housing fund isn't only for buying a home).
10. For migrant workers, you can apply for public rental housing (公租房) only after working steadily in the locality for the required number of years. Waiting in the queue costs nothing, and the earlier you register, the sooner your turn comes. See §7.16 (if housing is a hardship, queue for public rental housing first).
11. When you buy a second-hand home in the new city and an agent collects the payment, it must go through the dedicated transaction-funds deposit account that the agent has opened at a bank. See §15.7 (the dedicated transaction-funds deposit account).
12. If you hold an urban household registration and want to live in the countryside long term, only rent rural housing, for at most 20 years at a time. Don't buy homestead land or the house on it. See §15.9 (only rent rural housing).

After you move: social insurance, health insurance and seeing doctors

1. When you change where you work, your pension record follows you, and years of contributions keep adding up. A break does not reset them to zero. See §7.18 (don't panic if your social insurance contributions are interrupted).
2. After you start contributing in the new place, the new employer or you apply to the new insurance location to transfer your pension and health insurance records. See §19.19 (transferring pension insurance records).
3. Before you reach pension age, you cannot withdraw from the scheme and take the money out. See §19.19 (don't withdraw from the scheme).
4. If employee health insurance contributions lapse for more than 3 months, you may have to wait up to 6 months in the new place before claims are reimbursed, so don't leave a long gap in between. See §19.19 (transfer your pension and health insurance records to the new insurance location).
5. If you move across provinces to somewhere that is not the province of your household registration, and you are a man aged 50 or older or a woman aged 40 or older, your pension record stays at the original insurance location. The new place opens only a temporary account. See §19.19 (pension and health insurance records).
6. A break in contributions mainly affects the qualifications that require continuous contributions, such as buying a home, getting local household registration and points systems. Each place sets its own rules, so check in the new city. See §7.18 (don't panic if your social insurance contributions are interrupted).
7. If you work flexibly, you can join pension and medical insurance where you work, as household registration restrictions have been lifted. A few very large cities are still lifting them step by step, so ask locally. See §31.11 (household registration restrictions have been lifted).
8. If you have to pay for resident medical insurance (居民医保) yourself in the meantime, don't let it lapse. If it lapses and you pay again, there is a 3-month period in which treatment is not reimbursed. See §7.9 (resident medical insurance costs 400 yuan a year; don't let it lapse).
9. If you have a chronic condition such as high blood pressure or diabetes and your health insurance stays at the original insurance location, there are two things to do. First get outpatient chronic and special disease recognition at the insurance location, then file for out-of-area medical care. See §16.2 (get outpatient chronic and special disease recognition first, then file for out-of-area care).
10. "Temporary medical care away from home" and "long-term residence in another place" are two different filings, and the reimbursement levels differ. See §24.4 (ask locally before seeking care across provinces).
11. Before you go, keep your own copy of your medical records, test reports and imaging. When you change hospitals and see a new doctor, this pile of material is what you rely on. See §24.5 (keep your own copy of medical records, test reports and images).
12. If you changed jobs during the year, do an individual income tax annual reconciliation between March and June of the next year, which can usually get you a refund. See §5.2 (individual income tax reconciliation).