Female employees of a local credit cooperative in Jiaozuo, Central China's Henan Province may be asked to apply for schedule approval to get pregnant, according to a draft notice from local authorities.  "Women of reproductive age should schedule their pregnancy and female employees with unexpected pregnancies will be fined 1,000 yuan ($161)," read a screen shot of the e-mailed notice allegedly sent from a credit cooperative in Shanyang district, Jiaozuo.

"The schedule should be consistent with the annual work plan of different departments to avoid work disruptions," said the notice.

The notice added violators would not be considered for promotion and awards. For those who get an unscheduled pregnancy and those who do not conceive within schedule and severely hinder work efficiency, incentives and year-end bonuses would be cancelled.

Only those who have been working for over a year could file a pregnancy application, it added.

The credit cooperative admitted sending the notice to its employees on Wednesday, but said it was only a draft, reported the Dahe Daily.

A cooperative official said that many female college graduates have recently been recruited and if all of them simultaneously get pregnant, work would be disrupted, which has happened before.

"It's not easy to get a job. All we can do is to follow the notice," said an anonymous female employee of the credit cooperative. "But no one can guarantee a pregnancy 'on time.'"

Similar regulations exist in other companies and institutions. An anonymous bank employee in Henan told the Global Times that the company would ask for their pregnancy plans at the beginning of every year.

A primary school in 2005 also required a certain time lag for pregnancy, reported the China Youth Daily.