Temporary civil servants in Shanxi only paid $48 a month

Some government departments in Fenxi county of Shanxi province are accused of hiring a large number of temporary workers and paying them low wages, cnr.cn reported Monday.

Wang is a temporary worker at the local water resource bureau in Fenxi.

"I have been working there for 16 years as a temporary employee. With no insurances and house funding, I can get only 300 yuan ($48) in monthly salary," Wang said.

Cnr.cn found that the minimum monthly wage in the county is set at 945 yuan.

"Salaries are paid once a year by the department starting in 2013," Wang added.

Wang's information was confirmed by Zhang Jihong, vice director of the water resource bureau.

The department is home to 17 regular employees and 14 temporary ones, according to Zhang.

"Since wages for temporary workers are not included in the department budget, the money can only come from administrative fees for water resources paid by local businesses," Zhang said.

Wages for temporary workers have been on the decrease in recent years as the number of local businesses is reduced, Zhang added.

The lack of official financial support is the major reason behind the low wages.

The county's personnel bureau director Guo Wangen said local government agencies are banned from hiring temporary employees. However, manpower shortage pushes some departments to ignore the rules.

As a national-level poverty-stricken county, Fenxi enjoys fiscal revenue of only 100 million yuan every year, but the county's annual wage bill stands at 200 million yuan, said Duan Huigang, deputy county chief of Fenxi.

The limited fiscal revenue is far from enough to turn the temporary workers into permanent ones, the official added.