(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-09 16:55

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security made public a regulation on employment services and management that is to take effect next year.

A day later, an official with the State Council's Legislative Affairs Office warned companies and enterprises against attempting to evade the new law on promoting employment, which is also to be implemented next year.

The warning came in the wake of the so called "resignation-gate" controversy, in which a Shenzhen-based company reportedly ordered some 7,000 employees to resign and then re-apply for their jobs in an apparent attempt to elude unfavorable stipulations in the new employment promotion law.

The two recent regulatory moves are the latest of the high-profile official efforts that have been made this year to create a healthier environment for employment, an issue that concerns the welfare of common people and social stability.

The new regulation released on Wednesday targets all work units and government and private intermediaries in the labor and employment fields. The goal is to cultivate a unified and open labor market that encourages orderly competition.

It also includes stipulations on curbing various irregularities and forms of malpractice in the labor market that have provided loopholes to scofflaws in the past.

While the law on employment creates a legal foundation for protecting the job rights of laborers, the new regulation sets out details clarifying the spirit of the law to regulate how employers handle their workers.

The two legal documents are essentially a double blessing for the country's working class.

Many laborers, already buffeted by the fierce competition in the job market and within the workplace, have for years also had to deal with discrimination and ill treatment of all kinds.

Discrimination against women, transient workers and people who are carriers of hepatitis B runs rampant in many parts of the country, making it difficult for these people to land on jobs.

Meanwhile, irregularities in contracts and payments have also infringed on the rights of laborers and impeded justice.

It will take legal tools to wipe away all the obstacles blocking the way of laborers looking for decent work.