Labor authorities nationwide are keeping an eye on businesses that have been known to withhold wagesÂ
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to prevent thousands of migrant workers from being cheated before Spring Festival.
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Officials have unveiled a variety of measures to ensure salaries are paid on time for the annual LunarÂ
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New Year holiday, including fines for bosses who are late and special funds to cover laborers left inÂ
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limbo.
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In Beijing, inspections by human resources and social security departments are focusing on theÂ
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construction, catering and other labor-intensive sectors.
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More than 560 employers have been punished for delaying salaries since December, and more thanÂ
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CNY48 million in overdue salaries was paid out to almost 5,300 migrant workers, People's Daily reported.
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Harbin, Heilongjiang province, has set aside CNY20 million to pay workers who don't get paid this month.Â
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Law enforcement officers have been ordered to pressure offenders to pay up and pledged that allÂ
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workers will get their money by Feb 3.
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In Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, five companies that were found in arrears have beenÂ
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blacklisted and banned from operating in the city.
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The city government launched a campaign in November and has retrieved more than CNY47 million inÂ
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wages for 7,700 workers.
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In Guizhou province, employers who default on the payment of more than 10 workers, delay paying forÂ
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more than three months or are more than CNY100,000 in arrears, will face a fine of up to CNY100,000,Â
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under regulations provincial legislators passed on Friday.
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The regulation stipulates that enterprises in the construction, transportation and power generationÂ
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businesses will have to deposit an amount of money in a government fund as a bond for worker's wages.
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The precautionary measures follow a series of high-profile disputes that have drawn attention to the plightÂ
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of laborers.
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On Tuesday, two waitresses in their 20s attempted suicide in Dalian, Liaoning province, after theirÂ
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employer refused to pay their full salaries.
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The women, both from Shanxi province, told police their employer would pay them only CNY600 for 18Â
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days' work, instead of the CNY2,000 agreed upon.
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They had gone to the labor supervision authority for help but were turned down because they did not signÂ
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contracts with the restaurant owner.
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In Beijing, on Jan 14, about 140 migrant workers barged into a diplomatic residential compound onÂ
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Chang'an Avenue to demand their salaries from a man who workers said hired them in ShandongÂ
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province and had an office in the compound.
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Almost 100 officers from the armed police division and public security bureau were dispatched.
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Footage recorded by the Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, shows officers standing in front of the gatesÂ
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persuading the workers to leave and trying to pull up some of the petitioners who were on their knees.
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The deadlock lasted nearly three hours and ended when migrant workers were taken away in two buses.
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In Nanjing, Jiangsu province, more than 30 construction workers blocked a bustling shopping street on JanÂ
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7, demanding that their employer to pay them. Police officers rushed to the scene and promised to helpÂ
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resolve the issue.
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After negotiations, a company that hired the workers' employer said it will pay a proportion of theÂ
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workers' wages.
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Feng Xiliang, a labor expert at the Capital University of Economics and Business, told China Daily thereÂ
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are many reasons companies withhold payment.
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The construction sector, for example, "is prone to salaries in arrears because many subcontract jobs toÂ
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smaller firms, which causes payment problems," he said.
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"In some other industries, the grim economic situation and a sharp drop in export contracts have resultedÂ
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in them being financially strapped, leading to their inability to pay workers in a timely manner.
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"Yet, these should not be excuses for defaulting on workers' salaries," he added.Â