KFC underpaid me and broke province's labour laws, says worker

A Guangzhou woman claiming to be a former KFC employee plans to take the restaurant chain to court, alleging it failed to pay her according to labour laws.

Tang Xiaojing , 43, said she had worked full-time at a KFC in Baiyun district since 1999 but was fired last month for unspecified reasons. She claims she was paid only 4.7 yuan an hour - much less than the legal minimum pay even for part-time workers - and says KFC failed to buy her insurance and would not compensate her for overtime.

Under Guangdong labour rules, employers should pay part-time workers at least 7.5 yuan an hour in Guangzhou. National regulations say all staff should be covered by injury insurance and receive at least double pay for overtime.

Ms Tang's lawyer, Liang Zhi, said KFC was refusing to admit his client had been on its staff.

Ms Tang yesterday applied to labour authorities in the Yuexiu district for arbitration of her case and requested payment of outstanding wages. Mainland law demands that a labour dispute litigant seek arbitration before lodging a lawsuit.

Mr Liang said the labour authorities would take about a week to decide whether to hear the case and, if they accepted it, a decision could be handed down in three months.