Labour administration system in China

Trade and Minimum Wages in General Equilibrium: Theory and Evidence

“…While the Engel coefficient method is based on the minimum food expenditure divided by the Engel coefficient, which results in a minimum living cost. 24 In practice, the adjustments of minimum wages are set by the provincial administration (Gan, Hernandez and Ma, 2016), while prefectural level cities negotiate with their provincial administration to determine their actual level of minimum wage (Du and Wang, 2008;Casale and Zhu, 2013)). In particular, cities in each province are divided into several groups according to their levels of economic development.…”

Determining Minimum Wages in China: Do Economic Factors Dominate?

“…Driven by increasing labor disputes, China implemented its first minimum wage regulation in 1994, after the ratification of the International Labour Organization Convention. Although provincial governments were authorized to set minimum wages, municipalities could influence minimum wage levels on their own (Casale & Zhu ; Holz ). They were determined in line with regional economic factors, including average living expenses and wages, social security contributions, unemployment rates, and the level of economic development.…”

Report on the global survey into the use of information and communication technologies in national labour administration systems

“…12 The system is currently moving to improve access to the databases with relevant departments, such as taxation, based on a consensual understanding. The MISLI can thus be deployed by labour inspectors for information sharing, data comparison, dynamic monitoring, classified supervision and inspection, early warning and forecasting, one-shop processing, case management, superintendence and authority, statistics and analysis, institutional and staffing management, among others (Casale and Zhu 2013). In Jiangsu Province, workers can access the websites of a regional labour department, phone or visit its office to present a complaint.…”

“…It extended labour inspection services to cover both urban and rural areas and simplified inspection visit prioritization through the use of colours representing different degrees of law compliance, which are subjected to different treatment in terms of inspection visits. Moreover, in some cities, about 40 per cent of minor labour inspection cases and labour disputes have been resolved by the interventions of the labour inspection assistants, which prevent the escalation of cases and makes it possible for labour inspectors to invest their time in more complex and urgent cases (Casale and Zhu 2013).…”

“…However, Chinese labour authorities are facing challenges in the optimization of labour inspection through the use of ICT in three main areas: human resources, funds and technological infrastructure. Firstly, efficient use of the TNMS requires additional hiring and continuous refresher training of labour inspection personnel (Casale and Zhu 2013;Casale and Sivananthiram 2015). Labour inspectors lack sufficient ICT skills, calling for the procurement of technological solutions from external service providers.…”