Mar. 4 – The Zhejiang Provincial Government has announced that minimum wages in the province are to increase in line with the GDP per capita in each city during the 12th Five-Year Plan. Local authorities should take into account the degree of financial development, cost of living, and the average salary rise in each area in order to come up with an appropriate standard for the minimum wage, said a news report released by provincial authorities this week. Continue reading
Feb. 11 – Increasing militancy over labor conditions and terms by migrant workers in China is having a serious impact on South China-based businesses, as many migrant workers are refusing to return from the Chinese New Year vacation unless their demands are met. With workers becoming increasingly aware of their rights under the Labor Law, many are resorting to strong-arm tactics to “persuade” factory owners to give them more money. The situation is often exacerbated by grass roots labor union officials, who also stand to benefit via larger payments into the labor funds at their disposal if companies pay higher wages.
In one case related to the South China Morning Post, 30 migrant workers climbed onto the roof of one Shenzhen factory last month and threatened to collectively jump off if they were not allowed to go home five days early for the Chinese New Year vacation. In another case, workers demanded an additional 8 percent wage increase (on top of the 34 percent increase in wage levels in 2010) to return from Chinese New Year vacation, giving them a total salary increase of 42 per cent year-on-year. Continue reading
Feb. 10 – The draft guideline for Hong Kong’s first minimum wage law has left ambiguity over whether workers’ meal breaks and days off should qualify as paid working time, a situation that could be exploited by Chinese city and provincial governments as they seek to improve workers’ conditions and quell potential social unrest by putting more money in the pockets of China’s huge reserve of peasant workers.
The Hong Kong draft, which is set to take effect from May 1 this year, is non-specific on this issue for monthly paid workers, and does not clearly state these should be included as part of the wage calculation. Rather, the draft guideline includes meal breaks and days off as examples for potential inclusions in paid working time calculations. These inclusions could potentially raise the effective minimum wage from HK$6,200 to HK$8,000, an increase of 22.5 percent. Continue reading
Op-Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis
Jan. 27 – US$1.58 trillion. That’s actually the magic figure. The sum represents the total number of exports that China sent overseas last year. Amidst calls for China to rebalance its economy and shift its reliance on exports towards a more balanced, consumer driven economy, the Chinese government has been taking significant steps to stimulate domestic consumption and to create wealth within its borders by increasing the legal minimum wage. In doing so, it wants to shift dependence away from export manufacturing – represented in total by that figure of 1.58 trillion. Continue reading
Jan. 21 – Not long after the last minimum wage lift in May 2010, China’s Guangdong Province has once again decided to raise the minimum wage standards from March 1, 2011.
The Guangdong Provincial Government released the “Circular on Adjusting the Minimum Wage Standards of Enterprise Employees in Guangdong Province (yuefuhan [2011] No. 15)” on January 18. The circular announces the lifted minimum salary standards and urges every prefecture level and above government to adjust and announce its own city’s lowest standard within 15 days after January 18. Continue reading
Jan. 10 – Jiangsu Province will lift its minimum wage standards by over 15 percent beginning next month in an effort to offer more support to workers with low income and to ensure an abundant supply of migrant workers for production in the new year.
The Jiangsu Department of Human Resources and Social Security (JSHRSS) issued on January 4 the “Circular in Relation to the Adjustment of the Minimum Wage Standards in Jiangsu Province” (surenshefa [2011] No.5). It announces that from February 1, employers in Jiangsu Province shall follow the newest minimum wage standards as follows: Continue reading
SHENZHEN, Nov. 15 –Shenzhen has adopted new contribution rates for the city’s housing fund, set to take effect on December 1, 2010.
The new rates will be from 5 percent to 20 percent as decided by the employer. The fund will use the average wage of the employee from the previous year as the lower base limit (the lowest base is the city’s minimum wage). The upper limit will be five times the average wage for urban employees in 2009. Continue reading
Oct. 29 – China’s top legislature voted yesterday to allow workers in China the right to transfer their basic pension insurance accounts from one residence to another.
The Social Insurance Law, which will take effect on July 1, 2011, aims to prevent the improper use of social security funds and also promises a new endowment insurance system for rural residents.
The new law specifies a common right for all citizens to access and enjoy five forms of insurance: pension insurance, medical insurance, employment injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance. Continue reading
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