China's first special regulations to protect migrant workers' wages and rights will come into effect in May-
Never let salary become "salary worry"
Wages are the life-saving money, livelihood money and life-saving money of migrant workers. After years of governance, the phenomenon of arrears of wages that has plagued many migrant workers has been significantly reduced. The cases and quotas of arrears of wages have been declining year by year, and the rate of decline has been more than 30% in recent years.
How to better ensure that migrant workers receive wages on time and in full? China ’s first special regulation to protect migrant workers ’wages and rights, the“ Regulations on Safeguarding the Payment of Migrant Workers ’Wages,” came into effect on May 1, escorting them to completely eliminate “wage arrears”.
"A complaint will be effective, and all wages will be paid!"
Chen Dong, his hometown in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, was an electrician. During his work as a foreign worker, there was one thing that often caused him headaches.
"When I go out to work, the contractor usually takes us to the construction site, and gives me a living allowance every month, and says that I will pay the last year. But often I do n’t see the silhouette of the contractor and I go to work with the workers. The unit wants money, and the other party often 'plays the ball'. "Chen Dong has suffered from such suffering many times.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, nearly 2 million migrant workers were in arrears of wages in 2018; in 2019, labor security inspection agencies at all levels investigated and dealt with 58,000 wage violations. There were 3,286 violations of labor security laws, including 2,395 cases of wage arrears.
In order to eradicate the "stubborn illness" of arrears of wages, the state has introduced a series of policies and measures, and various departments in various regions have stepped up their efforts to control them.
On March 9 this year, migrant worker Shen Shikai came to the Guizhou Provincial Labor Inspection Bureau. He and six other workers were owed a total of 18,000 yuan in wages by a local construction company. "The company said that we deducted 7,700 yuan, only 10,300 yuan." Shen Shikai said helplessly.
Guizhou Provincial Labor Supervision Bureau, after learning the specific situation of wage arrears, immediately arranged for a special person to start the "recovery" work. "I didn't expect a complaint to be effective!" A week later, Shen Shikai and his coworkers received all their salaries, and a smile appeared on their faces.
Wang Guohong, Director of Guizhou Labor Inspection Bureau, said: "In order to solve the problem of wage arrears of migrant workers, we have established a big data service management platform to update the real-time employment situation in the field of engineering construction, connect the company's special account, supervise the payment of wages, contract signing and other matters. "As of April 18, Guizhou ’s labor-employer big data comprehensive service platform has accumulatively collected 2867 general construction contracting enterprises, 8404 engineering projects, collected personal information of 1.3407 million migrant workers, and signed a total of 733.7 thousand labor contracts. Connected with 8 financial institutions through dedicated lines to realize the opening of special salary accounts and payroll on behalf of banks.
Not only Guizhou, Qingdao City, Shandong Province is listed to set up a speed tribunal for disputes over wages of migrant workers, and it handles full-time disputes between migrant workers and employers due to wage arrears; Henan Province in the first quarter of this year issued 1.23 salary remuneration for 9342 migrant workers 100 million yuan; Jiangsu Province announced the list of enterprises and personnel who were restricted from market access and notified criticisms of the arrears of wages for migrant workers during the Spring Festival in 2020. 77 enterprises and 54 people were notified by the province and imposed penalties such as restricted market access; Chongqing was established The “Special Account System for Migrant Workers’ Wages ”is dedicated to resolving the long-standing contradiction between“ migrant workers ’wages and project payments”.
With a multi-pronged approach, the situation of high and frequent wage arrears has been clearly curbed. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the proportion of migrant workers owed wages has dropped from 4.1% in 2008 to 1% in 2013, and in 2018 this proportion has dropped to 0.67%. The national labor inspection and punishment of wage arrears cases, arrears and the number of people involved are also showing a downward trend year by year, and the decline rate has been more than 30% in recent years.
Efforts to eradicate stubborn arrears in the field of engineering construction
The effect has been remarkable, but the problem of arrears of wages for migrant workers has not been completely eliminated, and the problem of arrears of wages in some industries, especially in the field of engineering construction, is still prominent. The data shows that the proportion of migrant workers who were owed wages in the construction industry in 2018 was 1.75%, which was more than double the average of all industries.
Why is it difficult to cure the "stubborn illness" in the field of engineering construction? Experts pointed out that at present, wage payment in the field of engineering construction passes through the general contracting unit, subcontracting unit and contractor, etc., which is prone to be intercepted and deducted; in addition, the wages of migrant workers can not be paid, wages and project funds Problems such as confusion, difficulty in confirming labor and employment, and difficulty in accounting for wages have also been prominent.
"Now good projects are fiercely competitive, and there are few monks. Many construction units require construction units to advance their work. If the construction units have insufficient funds and the construction units fail to pay the progress of the project in time, there will be financial risks." Mr. Liu, who has experience in the industry, said that there is a risk transfer from upstream to downstream in the industry, and migrant workers have the lowest risk tolerance. In particular, many project managers often only pay migrant workers 1,000-2000 yuan per month for living expenses, and the rest waits until the farm is busy, school starts, and festivals. Once the funds are out of order, it is prone to arrears.
In response to the problem of arrears of wages in the field of engineering construction, the “Regulations” implemented this time have special regulations to make provisions.
For example, in order to solve the problem of “no money to be paid” and “dedicated funds” for migrant workers ’wages, the“ Regulations ”stipulates that the general contractor of construction shall open a special bank account for the payment of wages of migrant workers. The project funds are stripped out to ensure that the labor costs are paid in priority, and to prevent the labor costs from being mixed with the materials costs and management costs or being crowded out. Among them, the labor cost appropriation period should not exceed 1 month.
As another example, regarding the question of how, how much, and to whom and how much wages are paid to migrant workers, the “Regulations” require the implementation of subcontracting enterprises to entrust construction general contractors to pay migrant workers ’wages. Send wages to the bank account of the migrant workers themselves to ensure that the wages are paid to them; require the general construction contractor or subcontractor to sign labor contracts with the migrant workers hired and register and manage the real-name system according to law, and record them truthfully The actual attendance and attendance of construction projects.
"In the past, the wages of migrant workers were paid by labor subcontractors, and deferred payments and wages were misappropriated." The deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Yunnan Branch of China Construction Second Bureau introduced to the government that the company passed the "sub-account management" and "real-name management" The "three strokes of individual account", organization of precise supervision, and governance from the source of arrears of wages effectively ensure that migrant workers receive their wages on time and in full.
Regarding the provisions of the Regulations on wage guarantee, Mr. Wu, the general manager of a construction unit in Jiangsu, stated that the construction unit should submit a wage guarantee to the government, which is used to pay migrant workers who provide labor for contracted projects. And solve the problem of corporate wage arrears. "In addition, strengthen the fund review of bidding units and confirm the source of funds, which will better reduce risks."
Industry insiders pointed out that the "Regulations" also stipulates measures to strengthen the management of labor in the field of engineering construction, special account funds for wages of migrant workers, and protection of wage guarantees, that is, unless otherwise provided by law, the funds and wage guarantee funds for special accounts for migrant workers must not be caused by Reasons other than the payment of migrant workers ’wages for the project are blocked, frozen, or allocated. These systems provide a strong institutional guarantee for ensuring that migrant workers receive their wages.
"Blacklist" system prevents companies from owing money
"The implementation of the" Regulations "can play a positive role in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers, and has opened a new stage of governing arrears according to law." He Weida, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of Dongling University of Science and Technology Beijing, believes that the "Regulations" has increased For the punishment of behavior, migrant workers can appeal in accordance with the law to protect their rights and interests; if an enterprise violates the law, the government can intervene in management.
Experts pointed out that it has been more than ten years since China's special governance of the arrears of migrant workers' wages, and various departments have explored many effective measures to manage the arrears of migrant workers' wages, such as special accounts for migrant workers' wages, general contracting, and employment The real-name system, wage guarantees and other measures, the "Regulations" is to raise these mature and effective measures into legal norms.
In terms of specific punishment, the "Regulations" make it clear that violations of the provisions of arrears of migrant workers' wages shall be implemented in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and the human resources and social security administrative department shall order payment within a time limit; if the payment is not made within the time limit, the worker shall be paid more than 50% Compensation less than 100%. For illegal activities in the field of engineering construction, it was ordered to correct within a time limit and fined more than 50,000 yuan to less than 100,000 yuan. For some of these illegal activities, it also stipulated punishments such as ordering the project to stop working, lowering the qualification level or revoking the qualification certificate.
He Weida pointed out that another concern is that the "blacklist" system, restricting market access, and incorporating into the national credit system have imposed strict constraints on enterprises, and illegal enterprises will be unable to move in the market, which is also a wake-up call for enterprises. With spur.
In 2018, the nationwide implementation of the “blacklist” management system for arrears of migrant workers ’wages. Employers who owe migrant workers’ wages in serious circumstances or cause serious adverse social impacts will be included in the “blacklist”. The "Regulations" have clarified and perfected this. Once it is included in the "blacklist", the illegal units and individuals will be supported by government funds, government procurement, bidding, financing loans, market access, tax incentives, and evaluations. First, traffic and other aspects are restricted according to law and regulations.
"Once an enterprise is included in the 'black list', it will affect future bidding and contracting business." Mr. Wu, general manager of the construction unit, attaches great importance to the enterprise's credit history.
Regarding how to implement the "Regulations" in the next step, He Weida believes that it is necessary to increase publicity efforts and launch publicity work in various online and offline channels to help enterprises and migrant workers understand the "Regulations" and increase their awareness of safeguarding the rights and interests of migrant workers. At the same time, in order to prevent non-compliance with laws, it is necessary to strengthen the supervision of law enforcement personnel and establish an effective mechanism to ensure the implementation of laws. In addition, if the employer is unable to pay the wages of migrant workers in arrears or the wages of migrant workers are in arrears, the government may use the emergency revolving fund to advance the payment first, and then recover it later.
Experts reminded that migrant workers should be employed through formal channels as much as possible, and they should sign contracts with employers to make clear the working hours, working locations, labor remuneration, payment methods, and release time. Migrant workers who are in arrears of wages have the right to file complaints with the Human Resources and Social Security or other relevant departments according to law, or to apply for labor dispute mediation, arbitration and litigation according to law. At the same time, any unit or individual has the right to report to the relevant department of human resources and social security or other relevant departments the behavior of arrears of wages of migrant workers.
Qiu Haifeng Fang Ziwei