China exposes scams preying on jobseekers

In an effort to raise awareness among workers and jobseekers, China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has highlighted several recent cases of deceptive advertising, online scams or the withholding of wages.

Among the 10 cases published by the ministry was that of an information consultancy company in Shandong province which charged fees of 350,000 yuan ($49,500) under the label of recruitment services while not having the relevant official certificate from human resource services. The human resources bureau in Shandong has imposed administrative penalties on the company and reported the?alleged offences?to the local police department.

In another case highlighted by the ministry, a company in the southwestern province of Sichuan induced jobseekers to apply for loans to pay for the company's pre-job training, which lasted 44 days and cost 19,800 yuan. However, the company had no authorization to provide work-skills training and, after an investigation by the local human resources bureau, was ordered to return the training fees to jobseekers.

Meanwhile, a health management company in Henan province was found deducting what it called an "advance working skills training fee" from employees' wages. The local human resources bureau ordered the company to cease the practice as it violated China's labor laws.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has urged people to report cases where employment regulations are suspected of being violated or of rights being undermined to local human resources bureaus.