With the aim of addressing the problem of wage arrears, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) recently released six typical cases of punishing crimes where employers refused to pay wages to workers.
The cases demonstrate the commitment of the procuratorial organs to fulfilling their duties in accordance with the law, applying the criminal policy of tempering justice with mercy in a comprehensive and accurate way, and enhancing the effective coordination between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice to collaboratively advance the resolution of wage arrears through high-quality case handling.
For six years running, the SPP has published typical cases of combating offenses related to the refusal to pay remuneration for labor. The cases handled by the procuratorial organs in recent years have shown that wage arrears are prevalent in the construction sector, with migrant workers the worst affected. Moreover, the problem of wage arrears are no longer confined to traditional industries, with cases emerging in industries such as e-commerce platforms and logistics.
For suspects who sincerely confessed, showed remorse, and fully paid the back wages, lenient treatment is applied by the procuratorial organs in accordance with the law.
An official from the SPP's Procuratorial Department for General Crimes stated that, in handling cases of refusing to pay remuneration for labor, procuratorial organs should accurately implement the criminal policy of tempering justice with mercy.
Efforts should be made to intensify investigation and verification centering around the key facts of the relevant cases, accurately determine the entities responsible for wage arrears, and conduct self-initiated investigations when necessary, the official said. Collaborative efforts of human resources and public security departments are essential to trace wage arrears offences, recommend case transfers and initiate investigations, in order to effectively synergize administrative law enforcement with criminal justice, thereby facilitating long-term resolution of wage arrears and robustly safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of laborers, the official said.
