Employers cool to heat allowances

GUANGZHOU: Nearly 80 percent of private companies in the capital of Guangdong province do not pay a mandatory allowance to employees who work in the summer heat, the city's labor and social security bureau has said.

The province implemented the allowance in 2007 to compensate workers for working in the high temperatures.

Employers must pay the allowance to employees monthly between June and October or face charges, said Chen Jianlong, the vice-director of Guangzhou's labor and social security bureau.