A BAO AN factory that forced its 23 workers to share in paying 12,000 yuan (US$1,813) for the loss of missing machinery said the punishment notice had been posted simply to find the thief.
Lijin Group, a factory in Longhua in Bao an District that claims to be the largest mould plastics machine provider in China, said in a press release that a suspect surnamed Wu had been handed over to the police last week.
The company found Dec. 21 that a machine tool used to cut metal had disappeared. Because the company could not find the thief, it fired one of its technicians, Sun Wen, who was told by supervisors to put the machine in a passageway at the factory. Sun s contract was valid until May, the Daily Sunshine reported.
The notice was then posted at the factory saying Sun would be fined 5,000 yuan and the 22 workers in the processing department 319 yuan each.
Guang Feng, a lawyer with Shenzhen Xuchan Law Firm, said it was illegal for the factory to shift responsibility to employees and to dissolve Sun s contract.
It was also questioned why the company had not reported the theft to police until early January.
However, Zhao Shengmei, head of the factory s administrative department, said it needed to collect evidence before notifying police and it was a surveillance video that helped find the suspect.
The fine details were posted by the processing department to find the thief and had nothing to do with Lijin Group. It was normal for a factory to fire a worker, Zhao said.
But workers at the factory said only the human resources and the administrative departments had the right to post a notice, the paper said.
The suspect Wu had admitted to the theft but said the machine had been taken away by others, Zhao said. Investigations are continuing. (Jane Lai)
