As a major part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, Chinese companies have emphasized employee satisfaction to achieve sustainable development. However, it is still unclear how employees perceive organizational CSR efforts and whether such perceptions bring employee satisfaction and loyalty. To answer these timely inquires, we developed and empirically tested a theoretical framework modeling employee satisfaction as both mediator and moderator on the relationship between employee perception of organizational CSR efforts and their loyalty to enterprises. Based on 438 usable questionnaires collected from four typical companies, we found that solely providing money‐related welfare and improving the working environment can be detrimental to employee loyalty, but by increasing employee satisfaction of personal treatment, companies can mitigate such a side‐effect. Employee satisfaction of personal treatment and general company effort are necessary to enhance their affective commitment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.