Employers who refuse to pay employee salaries by using violence may face imprisonment of up to seven years, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) revealed on Tuesday. A judicial interpretation published Tuesday by the SPC defines that the employers who use violence over unpaid wages is seen as "serious consequences."
Migrant laborers are particularly prone to intended delay or refusal of wage payment at the end of the year when they want their hard-earned money before they return to their home countries.
According to the judicial interpretation, if an employers' dishonorable act is considered to involve a comparatively large amount of money but does not constituent a "serious consequence," the guilty party could be sentenced to imprisonment or detention of not more than three years.
Due to different economic and social development conditions, local courts could implement their own standards regarding the amount of money within the 5,000-20,000-yuan range set by the SPC, according to the interpretation.