‘Issue their own currency’: THIS Chinese company pays employees in vouchers instead of cash, netizens say ‘slave owner’

A Chinese company was criticised for allegedly paying the salaries of employees in vouchers instead of cash. An employee posted the accusation on social media, sparking widespread criticism online and an official probe against the company, according to a report.

The post was made by a person from China's Jilin province, who worked for a shopping centre called Motian Vitality City.

The shopping centre issued vouchers of varying amounts to the employees, who could use them to buy various goods, especially food and clothes, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

The vouchers ranged from $1.4 to $70, and they had no monetary value and could not be used as payment for other goods.

How these vouchers work?

Every voucher has a unique number, similar to banknotes. The employees will be required to show the vouchers to purchase goods.

Apart from goods, the vouchers can be used to pay property management fees and purchase certain properties that the group owns at a discounted price. However, the vouchers can be majorly used to pay restaurant bills and to purchase clothes, the report said citing Chinese Business View.

Additionally, if a product has a lesser value than the voucher, then the employee will not get the remaining amount.

“Many colleagues have mortgages and car loans, and young kids and old parents to support. We are helpless with these vouchers,” the report quoted an employee.

Social media users react

“Since when can a company issue their own currency? They should be severely punished,” one person said.

“We must have you pay back whatever you have earned from me. It does not seem like a modern company but a slave owner,” added another.

“So many years have passed and they are still doing that,” another person said.

The case is currently being probed by the local human resources and Social Security Bureau. The company has broken the law as it is mentioned in the Labour Law that the salaries must be paid monthly to labourers in the form of cash, Lawyer Zhao Liangshan from Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm told Chinese Business View.