Chinese lawmakers are considering adding an article in the
Criminal Law to deliver criminal penalties to employers that delay
salary payments or run away, in order to better protect the rights
and interests of employees.
In a report delivered at a meeting of the Standing Committee of
the 10th National People's Congress (NPC)
on Wednesday, He Luli, vice chairwoman of the Committee, said that
the legitimate rights and interests of employees have been
basically safeguarded since the introduction of the Labor Law on
January 1, 1995.
But He cautioned that many problems in violation of laborers'
rights and interests still exist, especially in labor-intensive
sectors such as construction, garments and accommodation, and in
many small and medium-sized private businesses.
The Chinese government will step up the formulation of labor
contract law, social security law, labor dispute settlement law and
employment facilitation law, revise the Labor Law and try to settle
all the overdue pay owed by employers to migrant workers by the end
of 2007.
Government statistics showed that the number of employed people
in Chinese cities and towns jumped from 190 million in 1995 to 265
million in 2004.
In order to settle the issue of delayed payment of wages to
migrant workers, 16 provincial-level regions and municipalities
have set up the mechanism to ensure the payment of salaries and 14
provincial-level regions have introduced a system to monitor the
delivery of salaries.
In an NPC questionnaire survey among 2,150 businesses in 40
cities this year, 7.8 percent of the surveyed employees said they
had been withheld salaries amounting to 2,184 yuan (US$273) per
person for 3.2 months on average over the past year.
In addition to the survey, an inspection team of the NPC
Standing Committee had visited seven provinces and municipalities,
including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Chongqing, to check the
implementation of the Labor Law.
"Some localities still have very serious problems of docking or
delaying the payment of salaries," said He, the vice chairwoman. In
2004, 41 percent of the cases investigated by the social security
supervision departments fell into the payment delay category.
"Social incidents triggered by overdue salaries, especially by
employers who escape and hide, are on the rise, seriously
undermining social stability," said He.
Less than 20 percent of employers are found to have signed labor
contracts with their workers in small and medium-sized private
businesses, most of which have no trade unions to guarantee the
staff's rights.
Some workers were given salaries below the basic level required
by the local government, and had to work overtime without extra
pay, while quite a large number of private business employees and
migrant workers have no insurance.
He urged central and local governments to properly handle the
relationship between the implementation of the Labor Law and
economic development, open more employment channels, severely
punish employers who fail to comply with the basic salary
requirement, as well as improve social security and labor dispute
settlement systems.
The central government should, He suggested, start checking on
the implementation of labor contracts across the country in 2006
and ensure all businesses sign labor contracts with their employees
in three years.
(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2005)