Government and Policy

Draft bill says boss could be jailed for IOUs

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-23 17:17

BEIJING - Chinese employers who intentionally withhold workers' pay will face up to seven years in jail, according to a draft amendment to China's Criminal Law.

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The amendment, submitted for the third reading Wednesday, targets employers who conceal assets or flee, and those who refuse to follow government labor department orders.

Those convicted of more "serious consequences" could face jail terms of three to seven years, according to the bill tabled at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Those convicted could be fined too, although lawmakers have yet to detail the fines.

The amendment is aimed at discouraging wage defaulting, particularly against migrant workers, which has become a prevalent problem in recent years, especially in labor-intensive small and medium-sized business such as construction, garment-making and catering.

According to government figures, about 242 million rural residents were working in cities by the end of 2010. Many had no employment contracts and faced difficulties collecting their wages from employers.

The Labor Law, which took effect in 1995, stipulates that government labor departments can intervene in wage default cases, order employers to pay and impose fines, but defaulting on wage payments is not listed as a crime in the current Criminal Law.

The draft amendment has also imposed harsher penalties on offenders who add toxic and harmful substances to foods and sell such foods.

Under the current law, the minimum penalty for such offences is one to six months in police detention. Offenders can go home one or two days a month.

The draft amendment has raised the minimum penalty to at least one year in prison.

Food safety remains a public concern in China. This month the Ministry of Agriculture stepped up scrutiny of milk products after reports of milk powders tainted by leather hydrolyzed protein.

In 2008, melamine-tainted milk products caused the deaths of at least six infants and left 300,000 children ill.

The NPC Standing Committee session started Wednesday and will run until Friday.