Panasonic has announced it will pay employees sent to work in China a bonus to compensate for the country’s poisonous air, according to the Financial Times.
It is not uncommon for foreign firms to pay employees sent to work in China “hardship pay”, but the Japanese electronics giant is believed to be the first to do so specifically for polluted air. A Panasonic spokesman confirmed the premium, but did not state how much the compensation would be nor how many of these workers the company had in China.
The policy change is just one part of a deal reached in Japan’s yearly labor talks. Other measures include Panasonic and Toyota boosting workers’ salaries for the first time in years.
"As for the premium for expatriates to compensate for a different living environment, the company will have a special review for those sent to Chinese cities," the company said in a statement.
The statement referred to the level of PM2.5 particles in China’s air, with levels in Beijing repeatedly reaching over 400 micrograms per cubic metre, compared to World Health Organisation recommended maximum of 25 micrograms.
Although the Chinese government has recently declared a “war on pollution”, with measures such as using drones to clear the air and artificial ‘smog chambers’, the problem only seems to get worse.
Wu Xiaoqing, deputy minister of environmental protection, recently said that air quality was below national standards in almost all of China’s major cities in 2013.
This week, Xie Chaohua, a Beijing official, has called for a ‘smog subsidy’ for those working outside, proposing the idea at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
[Image via China Daily]
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