Shenzhen's Labor Dispute Court will enact three measures to help migrant workers receive their back pay before the Chinese lunar New Year.

The first measure will be to assemble a task force whose goal will be to investigate, mediate and hear cases.

The second measure will focus on class-action cases relating to unpaid wages. Groups of migrant workers and business owners will be exempt from all legal fees they would otherwise be required to pay. When individuals who are financially constrained file complaints, they will be partially and in some cases, entirely exempt from the payment of court fees.

The final measure will be to speed up all procedures dealing with back pay issues. Each complaint involving a group of unpaid workers will be investigated the same day it is filed. Once the case is verified, a court decision will be made within five days. For an individual complainant, the case will also be investigated the day the complaint is filed. Once it is verified, a court decision will be provided in 28 days or less.

The new measures are aimed at drastically improving the courts' record. Last year, the city's labor dispute court received 3,459 complaints and solved only 1,827 of them.

(Shenzhen Daily January 10, 2006)