Beijing, China -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/22/2009 -- Guangdong province has announced that special trial courts will be established in Guangzhou to deal with an increasing number of labor contract disputes. Such special courts have already been set up in Shenzhen and Foshan, two other Pearl River delta cities that have also witnessed soaring labor disputes.

Labor disputes have experienced a sharp increase following the implementation of the new Labor Contract Law in 2008 as well as from the many company closures resulting from the ongoing global financial crisis. The Guangzhou courts have handled more than 2,800 labor dispute cases in the first half of 2009, accounting for more than half of all civil cases. Most of the reported cases involve disputes over back pay and appeals for compensation from laid off workers.

Scott Garner of Lehman, Lee & Xu commented that “the new courts are absolutely necessary to alleviate the severe backlog of employment cases. Under the current system in China, labor arbitration is a free service provided to all workers and workers are encouraged to use this system when there is a dispute with a former employer. This combined with the many factory closures, slashing of pay rates, cutting of benefits, illegal terminations, and other labor problems resulting from the economic downturn, have created a situation in which workers cases may not be heard for months and in some cases years. Since 2008, our firm has handled many more employment cases than in previous years and our Shanghai and Beijing offices have also experienced delays in having our clients cases heard. However, as the economy improves, the number of labor disputes should go down as factories and companies re-open and people are re-employed”

Lehman, Lee & Xu is a prominent Chinese corporate law firm and trademark and patent agency with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau, and Mongolia. The firm is recognized as a leading expert in corporate law and an active member of the Shanghai community.

To learn more about us, please visit our website at http://www.lehmanlaw.com