Five firms shamed for not paying staff on time

Shanghai’s human resources and social security bureau named and shamed five companies on Wednesday for not fully paying their employees on time — an action that is illegal.

The five firms — in sectors ranging from investment management to textile and catering — owed salaries from 120,000 yuan (US$17,000) to more than 1.24 million yuan. All the cases are now with the police.

Among them, Shanghai Ruike Fashion Company in Minhang District owed the most amount of money — 1.24 million yuan — to 36 employees.

On January 25, the suburban district's labor inspection authority received reports about the lagging payments and launched an investigation.

The investigators found that the company had expanded blindly but failed to pay the employees’ salaries from June to December last year.

The district’s human resources and social security bureau issued a notice on February 1, asking the company to rectify the issue, but it failed to do so while its legal representative Qian Jialun and operator Zhao Lianchun went into hiding.

The bureau then transferred the case to local police, who began to investigate.

Zhao later turned up and paid more than 535,000 yuan to the employees, but the company still owes over 707,000 yuan.

The case is still under investigation while the police are looking for Qian.

In another case, the boss of Shanghai Qinghui Investment Management Company, Zhang Qing, owed 14 employees more than 260,000 yuan. Following detention by police, Zhang paid off all the money. He was subsequently released.