From Chinese Press

Protect workers from heat

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-07 07:54

The scorching heat in northern and southern China will continue for sometime, says the National Meteorological Center. This makes it very important for the government to pay more attention to the health needs of people working outdoors, says an article on news.china.com.cn. Excerpts:

Enterprises have to pay the stipulated "high temperature allowance" to their employees in summer. But the allowance differs from unit to unit and according to the nature of work the employees do.

Civil servants and white-collar workers working in the comfort of air-conditioned offices can pocket more than 1,000 yuan as "high temperature allowance", while laborers who battle it out in the dry scorching heat in the open are paid niggardly sums. Some of them, mostly those working in small- and medium-sized enterprises, are not given any allowance at all.

Though workers have the right to get "high temperature allowance", many enterprises take advantage of the lack of a binding law and the loose monitoring system either to pay niggardly amounts or not pay anything at all.

Working in the open in searing heat is a health hazard and the least the workers should get is a decent "high temperature allowance".

Since the heat wave will continue and summer has just started, the authorities should not waste any time in setting up mandatory institutional protection for grassroots workers and issuing regulations to protect their rights.

(China Daily 07/07/2010 page9)