GUANGZHOU: This southern mainland city saw a large increase in labor disputes in the first quarter after the new Labor Contract Law took effect on the mainland this year.

The city reported more than 13,000 such disputes - nearly 43 percent of last year's total - according to figures from the Guangzhou Labor and Social Security Bureau.

"Employees have become more aware of how to protect their rights thanks to the implementation of the new Labor Contract Law," said Xie Yingjian, director of the Guangzhou Arbitration Office for Labor Disputes.

According to Xie, up to 90 percent of labor disputes have been settled by the arbitration office. "Only a small number of cases have been handled in court," he said.

The number of labor-dispute cases in Tianhe district - a booming business area - reached 557 in the past three months, an increase of 95 percent over the same period of last year.

According to Xie, most cases were related to overtime pay, contract termination and labor compensation.

Xie attributed the huge increase partly to "misunderstanding of the new Labor Contract Law".

"For example, employees are only paid if their contracts are terminated after January this year," Xie said. "But lots of them who canceled contracts with their units before January also tried to look for payment through arbitration."

Meanwhile, with the Law on the Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, which will take effect on May 1, the number of labor disputes is expected to see another dramatic rise, Xie said.

Arbitration services for employees in labor disputes will be provided free of charge.

"The new law, which was upgraded from the current regulation on labor-dispute arbitration adopted in 1993, will greatly shorten the time needed to settle labor disputes and cut costs. Therefore, there will be a continuous rise in labor disputes," Xie said.

To better handle such disputes, the arbitration team will be expanded, according to Xie, who described the current arbitration work as "too overloaded" due to the increased number of cases.

(HK Edition 04/24/2008 page2)