On Thursday 25 January, China's highest court, the Ministry of Human Resources and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions jointly published a series of 13 "model cases" involving disputes over wage arrears, which account for the vast majority of labour disputes in China.
This series of cases represent a very serious reminder of the law, not only for employers, but also for the public authorities and the various organisations responsible for protecting Chinese workers. In particular, it concerns the most vulnerable workers, or so-called internal migrant workers, who make up 40% of the country’s workforce (more than 295 million people in 2022). While the problems of unpaid wage arrears in situations of bankruptcy (case 1) affect everyone, the difficulties of...
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Article authors
Éric Sautedé
Freelance