ACCORDING TO the Department of Human Resources and Social Security in Sichuan province, Southwest China, less than 5 percent of employees involved in payment disputes have sought to independently defend their right to paid leave in recent years. Beijing News says it is the responsibility of the relevant local authorities to protect the rights of workers whether or not there are any complaints of their rights being violated.

Despite the lack of enforcement personnel to protect the rights of employees, local authorities should not just fulfill their responsibilities when employees report they have not been granted the rights to which they are entitled.

Quite the opposite, they should increase their investigations into possible violations of workers' rights, when there have been no reports for several years.