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Migrant Workers Claim Wages: Get Legal Help

Migrant workers in Beijing, who are owed thousands of yuan in unpaid wages, will get legal help so they can get what they are owed.

A ruling on July 26 by the Beijing Higher People's Court says migrant workers can file cases against employers and will not have to pay legal costs. They also will no longer need to prove that they are in financial difficulty to get the aid.

The ruling took effect immediately in all courts in the municipality. Other costs can be delayed, reduced or paid by the employer if a migrant worker wins a case.

The workers used to have to pay to freeze an employer's assets. That also has been changed.
The courts are authorized to order that migrant workers' salaries be paid before a trial is finished if judges consider a case clearly evident.

Another provision requires that courts decide the day the case is filed whether to accept it and to resolve it within 15 working days.

The review comes at a time when the number of such cases is on the rise.

Of the more than 120 million migrant workers in cities, the number of disputes is the highest in the construction industry, where companies usually do not sign labour contracts with migrants and payments rarely reach workers on time.

Sometimes, construction workers who do not get their cases resolved on time organize sit-ins or visit the court in groups, disrupting the normal order of the courts.

The ruling is part of a growing trend in which many local courts are providing more legal weapons for rural labourers to protect their rights.