Legal aid

Since 2004, the team has provided free legal assistance to more than 80,000 poverty-stricken and migrant workers. The Center provides legal advice and representation for workers on all labor rights issues, such as occupational injury, social insurance and pay disputes.

We provide legal services through:

• * A telephone hotline
• *Face-to-face consultation
• *Email consultation
• *An online forum
• *Legal representation in court and in negotiations with employers

The Center has an online forum where workers can post questions relating to labor rights and related issues. These questions are answered through the collective efforts of a professional team made up of our own lawyers and our network of contacts with relevant expertise. Many such professionals have joined the forum as an opportunity to share their knowledge and contribute to society.The Center also provides legal education to workers through specialized labor rights columns in a variety of newspapers and magazines, such as China Comment and Fellow Worker, thus expanding the reach of the Center’s legal services.

The Center also represents workers in negotiations with their employers, pioneering new methods for labor rights NGOs to represent the interests of workers in China. For example, the Center recently secured a total of RMB230,000 in unpaid wages and compensation for the unfair dismissal for 43 migrant workers [<full text article hyperlink..\Full text - For 43 Migrant Workers - Han Shichun.docx], through mediation procedures and negotiations with their employer.

Mr Xu, lawyer, assists claimants

Mr Han, Director of the Legal Aid department at Yilian, assists claimants

a group of workers completing claim paperwork at Yilian Center

y providing free-of-charge services, the Center has made itself accessible to its constituents and is therefore able to extend its reach in promoting labor rights. From October 2007 to March 2008, for example, the Center provided legal assistance to 8,405 workers, including through 2,240 hotline and 394 face-to-face consultations. In that same period, the Center acted in 63 legal aid cases and provided legal advice to, or filed a petition or legal application on behalf of, a further 270 workers. The legal aid cases resulted in a sum of RMB1,600,253.68 being awarded in mediations and judgments.

Many of the legal aid cases handled by the Center have set important legal precedents and have gained significant public and media attention within China. [<hyperlink to video C:\Documents and Settings\Alex\Desktop\Mr Han goes to court.MOD ] One influential case we have handled was the first case in China which recognized suicide [<case note hyperlink to file case study 2.docx] as a work-related injury, and in another high-profile work-related injury case our clients, a group of workers, received a record amount of compensation (RMB650,000).