人民大会堂代表了中国民主政治，人们普遍认为政务讨论中很难听到批评的声音，但3月7日十二届全国人大四次会议记者会却让人们听到了不同的声音。财政部部长楼继伟在中央电视台的直播记者会上发表长篇言论，直击现行《劳动合同法》的弊端。

　　Monday was the third day of the national parliamentary session, and the news briefing where Lou made his uNPRecedented statement was hosted by the National People's Congress (NPC), the body which approved his nomination as Finance Minister and whose Standing Committee in 2007 passed the Labor Contract Law which has so irked the minister.

　　3月7日是十二届全国人大四次会议召开的第三天，在由全国人大主持的记者会上，财政部部长楼继伟发表了这篇前所未有的言论。楼继伟正是被全国人大任命为财政部部长的，让他感到困扰的法律就是2007年人大常委会讨论通过的《劳动合同法》。

　　楼继伟批劳动合同法：过分保护在职员工

　　Hundreds of reporters were present to hear the man who holds China's purse strings, when one of them, citing complaints from entrepreneurs, lit Lou's fuse by asking about previous criticism he had made of the law.

　　记者会上有数百名记者出席，有记者援引企业家对《劳动合同法》的意见和抱怨，再次对楼继伟此前对此法的批评言论提出问题，由此触发了这位手握中国经济命脉的财政部部长的长篇言论。

　　Those comments had been to a rather different audience, one composed mainly of academics in Tsinghua University and on another occasion at a scholars' forum. Well-known as a no-nonsense straight-talker, Lou held nothing back.

　　楼继伟干脆利落，直言不讳，对问题毫不隐瞒。他曾两次就《劳动合同法》的问题对不同听众提出意见，一次是在清华大学管理学院从学术角度进行批评，另一次是在中国经济五十人论坛上向参会学者提出修改劳动法的建议。

　　The minister's argument is that the law is overprotective of employees, making employers unwilling to create jobs and invest in training. This, Lou claims, ultimately hurts workers by denying them jobs openings or the opportunity to improve their skills.

　　楼继伟认为，现行《劳动合同法》对在职职工的保护比较多，未能激励企业对职工进行企业培训、为劳动者提供就业机会，这最终会对劳动者造成伤害，因为企业提供的职位和员工提高自身技能的机会都减少了。

　　"For enterprises and employees, the extent of protection afforded by the Labor Contract Law is unbalanced," Lou said. "For prospective employees, especially the low-skilled, the law discriminates against them.

　　楼继伟说：“《劳动合同法》在企业方面和雇员方面，保护的程度是不平衡的。对于新入职的人，特别是低技能的体力劳动者的实际就业是带有歧视的。”

　　"As employees are allowed to terminate employment easily with only one month's notice, employers lack the motivation to invest in training. Why would any business spend money on training them? Our acute shortage of medium to highly skilled technicians partly stems from this law."“企业如果加大了企业培训，提高技能，而职工可以提前一个月不说什么原因就可以离开，企业为什么花钱给你提高技能呢？目前中高级技师是最为短缺的，与《劳动合同法》是有关的。”

　　"An employee may not work hard and the law makes it difficult for the employer to deal with by, for example, firing him or her. That prevents another prospective employee from taking the position."“一个职工如果工作不努力，企业很难对他进行处理，比如解雇，那么位置就占着，对新入职的就形成歧视。”

　　Lou is not the first to voice concern over the Labor Contract Law. The draft spent nearly a year in front of the cabinet before being submitted to the Standing Committee of the NPC and took another 19 months to be approved.

　　楼继伟不是第一个针对《劳动合同法》提出意见的人。经过近一年的讨论后，国务院将《劳动合同法》草案提交至全国人大常委会审议，审议过程历时19个月之久。

　　In China drafts are usually read three times, but the labor contract draft was read for a fourth time, after its full text was released for public consultation.

　　在中国，法律议案一般要经过三次审议，但《劳动合同法》在经过三次审议后向公众征求意见，后又进行了第四次审议才通过。