Workers will be allowed to decide their work quotas and pay rises, according to a district government.

The Jing'an district government on Thursday issued a new directive requiring all companies to establish standards on work quotas and wages.

When disagreements occur, they must be resolved through negotiations between management and representatives of employees.

The district government's decision is to protect the city's workers who in many cases are overworked and underpaid.

In May, the Shanghai municipal labor and social security bureau released guidelines on salaries, urging companies to pay manual workers a fair rate, with annual increases of at least 3 percent.

A survey of 250 Shanghai companies found that more than half of their manual workers had not received an increment for at least three years. Some, for up to six years.

The district government said special attention must be paid to people employed in the manufacturing and service sectors.

Statistics show that 80 percent of people employed in these sectors are on piecework, with the work quota being much too high and the wages too low. In addition, they have no channels of communication with their employers.

According to the directive, companies that base their wages on piecework must ensure the task can be completed by 90 percent of the workers within legitimate working hours.

Wages must be adjusted in line with a company's increasing profits.

Any company that has not raised wages for more than two years must discuss it with employees through their representatives or union.

(China Daily July 17, 2007)