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25 times higher? Much to-do over bonus chasm
By Zuo Likun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-02-03 18:04
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A row has erupted after an on-line post revealed officials of an aluminum company were paid bonuses twenty five times higher than workers.
"All tears! Of the annual bonuses at NELA, officials get 25 times higher than workers," it read.
The viral article, read over tens of thousands times online, said fellow workers at the Harbin-based Northeast Light Alloy (NELA) get only 200 yuan (US$29.3) bonus by the year-end while some executive officials engorge a glut of 10,000 yuan (US$1,465), National Business Daily reported.
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At least two workers at the subsidiary contacted by the business newspaper confirmed that what they got was indeed a stingy dole of 200 yuan, though indicating the disparity varies at different plants.
However, NELA's chief financial officer (CFO) Wang Ping said that's not the case.
"The workers get it wrong. It's not annual bonus, but performance awards," Wang said.
How much one gets depends on performance based on a guideline, thus some may not get the awards at all if they fail their benchmark, Wang explained.
Contacted over the report, Niu Dazhi, chairman of Workers' Union at the subsidiary, said he was so far unaware of the brouhaha. While another human resource manager assured the figures online were hyped.
Clamors over annual bonus by the year-end is nothing unusual, though internal disparity seems more likely to displease than the old tune of mega salaries at financial sectors, analyst said.
"As long as it's legitimate, it's OK, though 25-times-higher is indeed mindboggling," Lu Jingbo, a labor law specialist said to National Business Daily.
Each company has its own compensation system that is passed by the workers' congress, through which discontented employees could file a complaint. Or they could litigate it on court, Lu added.
