Legal aid service contributes to work resumption in Shanghai

The legal aid center of the East China metropolis Shanghai has rolled out a set of measures to facilitate businesses' work resumption and reinforce labor protection as the epidemic subsides.

According to the measures, the center will provide epidemic-affected micro, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as individually-owned businesses, especially those badly hit by the epidemic, with free legal guidance and aid.

It will no longer scrutinize the financial conditions of legal aid applicants who are migrant workers entangled in labor disputes, medics, police officers (including auxiliary ones) and military personnel on the frontline of the fight against the epidemic.

It will allow applicants who are unable to prove their financial difficulties due to the epidemic to submit written commitments, and offer unconditioned legal aid to those in urgent circumstances such as imminent time expiration of their right to take legal action.

The center will also prioritize approaches like conciliation and mediation in the handling of labor and mass disputes in order to strike a balance between labor protection and enterprises' work resumption.

Meanwhile, it has been drawing on the local legal service hotline and website to counsel the public on a 24/7 basis during the epidemic.

The center also joined the epidemic prevention efforts of the community where it's based by striking a cooperation agreement with the community's residents' committee and donating medical supplies to local volunteers.

It even dispatched staff to assist community workers in carrying out the daily epidemic prevention work.