Ensuring that migrant workers receive their wages on time and in full bears on the vital interests and well-being of migrant workers and on social fairness, justice, harmony and stability. The end of the year and the beginning of the next is a period when wage arrears are prone to occur and frequently do. How can the lawful rights and interests of migrant workers be effectively safeguarded? How are the relevant safeguard systems implemented? What innovative explorations have been made in eradicating wage arrears?

Strengthening source governance — project departments now have "migrant worker wage rights protection centers"

"Thanks to the project department's 'migrant worker wage rights protection center,' my fellow workers and I were able to get back two months of wages." Recalling his recent experience of demanding unpaid wages, Xu Guangfa, a migrant worker from Hubei, said with emotion.

In June 2023, through the introduction of a fellow townsman, Xu Guangfa came to work on a hospital construction project in Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. "There were six of us. Before coming, we agreed with the foreman, Feng, on a wage of 300 yuan per day, but after working for two months, we never got paid. We went to see the foreman several times, but he kept putting us off. Later, when we saw the workers in the neighboring dormitory all getting paid, we were really anxious!"

Seeing their anxiety, some fellow workers reminded them that they could report the situation to the project department's "migrant worker wage rights protection center." The center is located on the first floor of the project department. Staff member Wang Kejie, a labor specialist for the project's general contractor, and others patiently listened to the workers' demands, soothed their emotions, and immediately launched the investigation and coordination mechanism, contacting the relevant personnel to ascertain the specific situation.

"We are fairly familiar with the personnel involved in the project, so that same day we got in touch with the Feng mentioned by the migrant workers," Wang Kejie recalled. It turned out that Feng was a team leader under one of the project's subcontractors. To speed up construction, Feng, without the general contractor's permission, privately recruited Xu Guangfa and the others to work and did not lead them through the real-name registration channel into the site, so the attendance of the six was not recorded.

"Although our attendance wasn't recorded, we really did work on the site every day." Xu Guangfa showed photos taken during their work period of them clocking in and out. The center's staff, combined with video surveillance, confirmed that the six had indeed been employed. Therefore, after consultation with the construction unit, the general contractor that same day ordered the subcontractor to verify the attendance of Xu Guangfa and the others as soon as possible, and by the next afternoon, through the dedicated migrant worker wage account, paid all wages totaling 113,800 yuan to Xu Guangfa and the other five.

Since May 2023, Hebei Province has explored and introduced an innovative measure for preventing wage arrears at the source — establishing "migrant worker wage rights protection centers" on a project-by-project basis. Construction units are required to take the lead and, together with general contractors and subcontractors, set up dedicated organizational bodies to routinely coordinate and handle disputes related to migrant worker wage payments, achieving source prevention and front-end resolution of wage arrears.

Wang Kejie introduced that in the half year since its establishment, the "migrant worker wage rights protection center" had received 23 inquiries from migrant workers on the project and coordinated the resolution of three labor disputes involving migrant workers.

Electrical installation worker Xiang Maoliang said that now when they come to work, they first go to the "migrant worker wage rights protection center," where they sign employment agreements and are informed of the center's functions in resolving wage arrears. When the project ends, they also come here to complete the relevant procedures before leaving.

"Establishing 'migrant worker wage rights protection centers' on a project-by-project basis is intended so that when wage arrears risks arise, migrant workers can find an institution nearby to voice their demands, and this institution is very familiar with the situation of the project where the migrant workers are employed and can carry out risk resolution and problem handling at the earliest opportunity, significantly improving the convenience and timeliness of rights protection services," said Shi Gang, director of the Shijiazhuang Labor Inspection Bureau.

Hu Xionglong, director of the Labor Security Inspection Bureau of the Hebei Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, introduced that organizing construction units and construction enterprises to establish "migrant worker wage rights protection centers" on a project-by-project basis is the first such practice in the country. At present, all 5,799 projects under construction in Hebei Province have established "migrant worker wage rights protection centers."

Faster and more effective handling — fast-track tribunals achieve "quick filing, quick mediation, quick adjudication, quick conclusion"

"From filing the case to receiving the arbitration mediation document took less than two days!" said Zhang Lei (pseudonym), a migrant worker employed in Nan'an District, Chongqing. Through the "fast-track procedure for migrant worker wage disputes," he and his fellow workers finally had their wages, which had been in arrears for nine months, properly resolved.

It turned out that Zhang and his fellow workers had been employed for more than two years at an automobile sales and service company in Chongqing. At the beginning of 2023, the company encountered problems in its capital chain and fell into arrears on migrant worker wages totaling 520,000 yuan. In September 2023, Zhang and his fellow workers came to the Nan'an District one-stop labor dispute joint handling center to report the situation. The center immediately coordinated with the district labor and personnel dispute arbitration institute to launch the "fast-track procedure for migrant worker wage disputes," guiding the migrant workers seeking wages to file the case the same day and complete the formation of the tribunal and assignment of arbitrators.

The arbitrators handling the case, upholding the principles of fairness, justice and openness, carefully considered and understood the specific circumstances of the migrant workers and the company and built a bridge of communication between the two sides. Ultimately, at the arbitration mediation stage, both sides agreed to a mediation plan for paying the wages in two installments, signed a mediation record on the day of the arbitration hearing, and produced a mediation document. At present, Zhang and his fellow workers have received the first batch of their unpaid wages, with the remainder expected to arrive before the Spring Festival.

"Long durations and cumbersome procedures were once a problem for migrant workers seeking unpaid wages. We have adopted a 'quick filing, quick mediation, quick adjudication, quick conclusion' mechanism to shorten the time migrant worker labor dispute cases spend in the arbitration stage," said Yang Feng, president of the Nan'an District Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Institute.

It is understood that labor and personnel dispute arbitration institutions in Chongqing, relying on the "fast-track chain," make the handling of disputes related to migrant workers seeking unpaid wages faster, simplifying procedures in accordance with the law at each stage of acceptance, hearing and service, and further compressing handling time limits for cases with conclusive evidence and clear facts, striving to conclude cases in the shortest possible time.

At present, all 42 labor and personnel dispute arbitration institutions in Chongqing have established fast-track tribunals or fast-track teams for migrant worker wage disputes. As of December 10, 2023, Chongqing had accepted 682 migrant worker wage dispute cases and concluded 682, involving 717 migrant workers and more than 6 million yuan.

At the Nan'an District one-stop labor dispute joint handling center, departments such as the district trade union, justice bureau and court all send personnel to be stationed on site, promptly providing diversified services to workers who come for arbitration.

At the beginning of 2023, because of more than 2 million yuan in unpaid wages, more than 100 migrant workers from an enterprise in Nan'an District came to the district's one-stop labor dispute joint handling center to apply for rights protection. After accepting the case, the center, at the earliest opportunity, joined with the Nan'an District Court, Commerce Commission, Tax Bureau, as well as the subdistrict and police station, to carry out pre-litigation joint mediation, implementing an integrated case-handling system of "guiding judge + labor arbitrator + people's mediator." Through the efforts of multiple parties, the two sides ultimately reached a settlement, and within one month the migrant workers received all their wages.

"We have improved the multi-channel resolution framework for migrant worker wage disputes. On the basis of compliance with legality, fairness and justice, we highlight the principle of 'mediation first, mediate rather than arbitrate where possible, and combine mediation with arbitration,' combining consultation, case filing and mediation, with mediation organizations actively cooperating with arbitration institutions to jointly complete the basic work required for fast-track tribunal case filing, resolving migrant worker wage disputes before case filing," said Gong Zhihua, head of the Mediation and Arbitration Management Division of the Chongqing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

In addition, Chongqing has launched the "Chongqing Easy Simplified Arbitration" online service platform, making it convenient for migrant workers to conduct a series of arbitration procedures online, including online application, online mediation and online hearings. "Through the smart platform, we conduct real-time monitoring of labor dispute case data, specially tag cases involving migrant workers, and improve case-handling efficiency. At the same time, we have also achieved cross-regional handling of migrant worker wage disputes, so that migrant workers can feel that heartwarming, people-benefiting services are 'within reach' when obtaining labor remuneration rights in accordance with the law," Gong Zhihua said.

It is introduced that the Chongqing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau will take the construction of fast-track tribunals as an opportunity to further optimize case-handling procedures, improve the fast-track mechanism, strengthen coordinated case handling, help improve the quality and efficiency of eradicating wage arrears, and promote more harmonious and stable labor relations throughout the city.

Upgraded heartwarming services — legal aid "warming migrant workers' wages"

"Thanks to the mediation by the court and the trade union, there is now a resolution on both wages and compensation. Now I can have a peaceful New Year." On December 26, 2023, after receiving the mediation agreement issued by the local court, Huang Jinbiao, a migrant worker employed in Xihu District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, said with relief.

It turned out that in November 2022, Huang Jinbiao accidentally fell from a scaffold while working at a construction site in Xihu District and was injured, and was assessed as having a level 9 disability. On June 30, 2023, Huang Jinbiao and the construction contractor signed an agreement stipulating that the contractor would compensate for prior wage settlement, subsequent medical expenses, lost work income, mental distress compensation and other costs totaling 100,000 yuan. "Who would have thought the contractor would pay only 20,000 yuan and refuse to pay the rest no matter what," Huang Jinbiao said.

On November 20, 2023, Huang Jinbiao came to the Xihu District People's Court with a complaint. He had originally thought it would take complicated court proceedings to resolve, but after learning the situation, court staff took him to the Xihu District "court + trade union" labor dispute litigation-mediation coordination studio. "The court has a green channel for legal aid for migrant workers seeking unpaid wages, so you can first try resolving it through mediation." That same day, the court assigned the studio to carry out mediation, and a lawyer-mediator representing the trade union immediately became involved.

After accepting the assignment, mediator Wen Xiaoying communicated with both parties multiple times through the People's Court mediation platform, patiently listened to both sides' opinions, comprehensively analyzed both sides' demands, and ultimately helped the two sides reach mediation. To ensure performance of the mediation agreement, the mediator guided both parties to apply to the Xihu District Court for judicial confirmation, and on December 26 a mediation document was issued, stipulating that if one party refused to perform or did not fully perform, the other party could apply to the court for compulsory enforcement.

Chu Lina, deputy director of the Public Legal Service Management Division of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Justice, introduced that since December 2023, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Justice has carried out the "Law Helps You · Warming Migrant Workers' Wages" legal aid benefit action, relying on the three major platforms of the public legal service hotline, network and offline services to fully open up legal aid channels for migrant workers. On Jiangxi Province's public legal service physical platforms and in legal aid institutions, green channels for legal aid for migrant workers seeking unpaid wages have been opened, and all localities have fully implemented "province-wide handling" and "assisted handling" services for legal aid applications, promoting "acceptance with missing materials," under which applications are accepted first and supplementary procedures completed afterward when the basic conditions are met, the main materials are complete and statutory conditions are satisfied, but other materials or procedures are lacking.

"Thanks to legal aid, we finally got the two months of wages owed to us, and the remaining wages can also be received before the New Year," Ms. Hu, a former employee of a property management company in Nanchang County, Jiangxi Province, told reporters. She and 19 fellow workers had been owed four months of wages totaling more than 250,000 yuan by the company, and because the relevant evidence was insufficient, complaints through multiple channels had produced no result. "The Nanchang County Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Institute helped us contact the county legal aid center and the general trade union and proposed assisting with the application."

The Nanchang County Legal Aid Center fully leveraged the "inspection + arbitration + trade union + legal aid" coordinated labor rights protection mechanism and assigned Huang Jinsheng, a legal aid lawyer for worker rights protection, to safeguard the rights of Ms. Hu and the other 20 people. In early December 2023, under the joint coordination of all parties, the property company paid Ms. Hu and the others more than two months of overdue wages and promised to pay everything in full before the 2024 Spring Festival.

It is understood that since the launch of the special action, legal aid institutions across Jiangxi have responded actively, implementing convenience measures such as "acceptance with missing materials" and "at most one visit" for legal aid applications by rural migrant workers seeking labor remuneration. Up to now, a total of 6,764 consultations on labor and employment matters have been answered, including 548 involving migrant workers seeking unpaid wages.