Shanghai cracks down on unpaid wages

Shanghai has launched a new round of crackdowns on malicious wage arrears to ensure that migrant workers get their pay ahead of the Spring Festival, authorities announced on Thursday.

To enhance their work and alleviate such arrears by 2020, a steering group has been established, led by Vice Mayor Peng Chenlei and joined by 23 government departments.

Four inspection teams have been set up to visit construction sites to ensure that workers are fully paid and their rights are safeguarded. Shanghai's construction and dining industries hire large numbers of migrant workers, and in the past some employers have illegally withheld wages to them. This has been known to happen ahead of the Spring Festival, when many migrants expect to return to their hometowns with their salaries from the previous year.

According to the group, labor authorities around the city have handled 4,417 cases in which companies owed salaries to employees between January and November. Twenty-four cases have been handed to police, who started investigations into 19.

A blacklist system has also been established, with blacklisted companies named and shamed each season. By now 95 companies have been put on the list and 38 have already been publicly named.

The five latest additions to the list are said to have stiffed employees out of 3.3 million yuan (US$470,000).

Among them, Yinshao (Shanghai) Catering Management Co, which ran the restaurant Blazing Fire at Xintiandi in Huangpu District, was reported by more than 20 employees on July 15 for its sudden closure, while still owing them more than 100,000 yuan in unpaid wages.

Labor affairs inspectors found that the company’s legal representative, Qian Kejia, and operator, Jiang Zuwang, had fled and could not be contacted. They handed the case over to police on October 30. Jiang returned soon afterward and paid up on November 28.

Wage arrears also happen in other industries, including technology.

Shanghai Tombot Robot Co Ltd was also named and shamed for owing more than 1.7 million yuan to 186 employees.

Labor affairs supervisors in the Pudong New Area, where the company was located, received complaints from the employees on July 6 last year. After an official demand to pay workers was ignored, and the company's legal representative, Wang Minggao, was found to have vanished, the case was handed over to police on July 2 this year.