This study draws on the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) framework to examine a structural model of the predictors and outcomes of decent work in a sample of 377 Chinese urban workers. The model consists of subjective social status as a precursor, job satisfaction and turnover intention as two outcomes, work volition and decent work as two mediators, and proactive personality and social support as two moderators buffering the prediction of social status. While the study found cross-cultural invariance in the measurement of work volition and decent work, the results supported the significant mediating roles of work volition and access to decent work in the relationship between social status and career-related outcomes and the moderating roles of proactive personality and social support. A detailed explanation of the results and implications for future research is provided. •Providing initial evidence for Psychology of Working Theory in China•The inequivalence of the structure of the core variables in PWT was found.•Decent work and work volition mediated the effect of social class on career outcomes.•Social support and proactive personality moderated the predictions of social class.