Amended labor contract law targets equal pay

A new amended labor contract law has come into effect in China, which emphasizes that the so-called outsourced workers should get the same amount of pay as regular staff doing the same job.

Outsourced workers only sign contracts with their recruitment agencies, and not the companies they end up working for.

So some companies end up paying their outsourced workers less money than regular staffers.

The new amended law has given a clear definition of outsourced workers.

"Outsourced workers are temporary workers that hold contracts not longer than six months. They are supplementary, and do work to support the work of regular staffers. Lastly, they are backup workers to fill in for the regular staffers who are on leave,"said Uzhitu. who is the vice chairman of the Finance and Economic Committee of China's top legislature.

A Yan is an outsourced worker at a clothing factory. She says workers like herself get lots of unfair treatment at work.

"We didn't get paid the same as the regular staffers before. And this made me feel that I was not part of the team."

Uzhitu says the amended law has included provisions to ensure equality in payment.

"The Labor Law added regulations stating that the three way contracts between outsourced workers, recruitment agencies and companies should indicate that the workers are not underpaid."

Law professor Li Jianfei with China's Renmin University says companies should abide by the new labor law.

"To pay people doing the same different salaries just because they are on different recruitment status is illegal. Their social welfare terms should be the same as well. The same amount of work get paid the same is constitutional."

Some insiders say outsourced workers can go to labor unions of their companies to report any unfair treatments.

If there is not a union in the company, outsourced workers can turn to unions in the district to get remedy.

Workers will also be able to resort to court settlements.