KRAFT Foods Inc. plans to fire half of the 250 workers at its Beijing headquarters as the world’s second-largest foodmaker integrates operations in China with Groupe Danone SA and moves its head office to Shanghai.

The company, part-owned by Warren Buffett, was in talks with a labor union over the plan, said Tod Gimbel, Kraft’s Singapore-based director of corporate affairs for Asia. Employees accuse Kraft of violating a new labor law by not consulting them on the move, the Beijing News and Shanghai Daily have reported, quoting a labor union.

“We fully believe that we’ve complied with all aspects of all the laws — the new law and any other applicable laws,’’ Gimbel said in a phone interview yesterday. Employees who lose their jobs or choose not to relocate “will get redundancy packages that will exceed requirements.’’

The spat highlights the uncertainties that companies in China face in implementing a new labor contract law that took effect Jan. 1. The legislation requires minimum wages and severance pay, limits overtime and introduces a consultation provision for employees in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

“The range of company policies and decisions that are subject to this consultation obligation isn’t clearly specified,’’ said Lester Ross, partner in charge of the Beijing office of law firm WilmerHale. “So at the outset at least — and the law’s only been in effect for less than three months — there can very well be confrontation over whether or not the company has an obligation to consult.’’

Gimbel said the labor union at the company’s Beijing offices formed after Kraft, producer of Oreo biscuits and Maxwell House coffee, made the decision to move.

The foodmaker had no plans “right now’’ for layoffs in its sales force or other business units in China besides the Beijing headquarters, Gimbel said. The Northfield, Illinois-based company had “thousands’’ of employees in China, he added, without providing an exact figure.(SD-Agencies)