Jingyuan Industry News

Guiding Opinions on Cultivating the Construction Industry Workforce in the New Era

(Draft for Comment）

Construction industry workers (hereinafter referred to as construction workers) are the foundation of the development of the construction industry and have made significant contributions to the construction of new urbanization and the rapid development of the national economy. At present, construction workers are confronted with problems such as high mobility, severe aging, low skill and quality, and ineffective protection of their legitimate rights and interests, which seriously restrict the sustained and healthy development of the construction industry. To implement the "Reform Plan for the Construction of Industrial Workers' Teams in the New Era", the "Opinions of The General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Sustainable and Healthy Development of the Construction Industry", and the "Opinions of The General Office of the State Council on Comprehensively Addressing the Problem of Wage Arrears for Migrant Workers", and to accelerate the cultivation of construction workers' teams in the new era, the following opinions are hereby put forward:

I. General Requirements

(1) Guiding Ideology.

Taking the promotion of supply-side structural reform as the main line, we should break through the institutional and mechanism obstacles that do not meet the requirements of the construction worker team building, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of enterprises and the vast number of construction workers, and provide strong support for the sustained and healthy development of the construction industry and the realization of new urbanization.(II) Basic Principles.

(II) Basic Principles.

Adhere to government guidance and enterprise leadership. Strengthen policy guidance, increase financial input, enhance supervision and management, and cultivate the construction worker team in an orderly and legal manner. Give full play to the leading role of enterprises in the organization and skills training of construction workers, and implement the main responsibility for safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of construction workers.

Adhere to the people-oriented principle and pursue innovative development. We should improve the long-term mechanism for preventing and resolving the problem of wage arrears for migrant workers, explore a social insurance payment mechanism suitable for the characteristics of the construction industry, effectively safeguard the labor remuneration rights and interests of migrant workers, intensify skills training, and continuously enhance the skill levels of construction workers.

III) Objectives and Tasks

Deepen the reform of the construction employment system, establish a professional development path for construction workers, promote the transformation of migrant workers in the construction industry into construction workers, and improve the skills training and assessment system for construction workers. By 2025, the skills and qualities of construction workers will be significantly enhanced, with the number of construction workers at or above the intermediate level reaching 10 million. A long-term mechanism for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of construction workers will be established. Open up career development channels for skilled talents, carry forward the spirit of model workers and craftsmanship, and build a large army of industrial workers in the construction industry that is knowledgeable, skilled and innovative.

Ii. Deepen the reform of the labor employment system

(1) Build a new employment system for the construction industry. Gradually establish a diversified employment model in which the self-owned construction workers of construction contracting enterprises are the backbone and those of specialized operation enterprises are the main body. Encourage general contracting and specialized contracting enterprises to cultivate their own construction worker teams mainly composed of special operation workers and highly skilled construction workers, who will serve as technical backbones to undertake on-site operation shift leadership or supervision and other work. Professional operation enterprises should establish relatively stable labor relations with construction workers and sign labor contracts in accordance with the law.

(2) Vigorously develop specialized operation enterprises. Strengthen policy support, further promote "mass innovation and entrepreneurship", fully rely on local "mass entrepreneurship and innovation bases", encourage and guide existing labor teams or team leaders with certain skills and experience to establish professional companies mainly engaged in operations or register individual business households as legal carriers for construction workers, and promote the transformation of migrant workers in the construction industry into skilled workers. Enhance the sense of belonging among construction workers. The approval for construction labor service qualifications will be abolished, and professional operation enterprise qualifications will be established. A notification and filing system will be implemented. After obtaining the industrial and commercial registration, professional operation enterprises should file their basic information, contact persons and other details with the county-level housing and urban-rural development administrative department, and clearly define the main types of work they are engaged in. The county-level housing and urban-rural development department issues professional operation enterprise qualification certificates based on the filing information. Professional operation enterprises engage in professional operation subcontracting within the scope permitted by the qualification certificates. We must effectively implement the reduction and exemption policies for micro and small professional operation enterprises in terms of value-added tax, administrative and public service charges, and government funds. Encourage construction contracting enterprises to establish long-term and stable cooperative relationships with specialized operation enterprises and continuously enhance their professional operation capabilities.(3) Guide labor service enterprises to transform and develop. Relax market access restrictions and encourage labor service enterprises with certain organizational and management capabilities to transform into general contracting and specialized enterprises by introducing talents, equipment and other means. Encourage large and medium-sized labor service enterprises to fully utilize their own advantages to build labor employment platforms and provide qualified construction workers for construction enterprises. Guide small and micro labor service enterprises to transform and develop into specialized operation enterprises, specialize and refine professional operations, and become the main body of employment in the construction industry.

(4) Fully implement real-name management. General contracting enterprises for construction should establish a real-name management system for construction workers, clarify management responsibilities, and implement real-name management for construction workers entering the construction site, recording their identity information, training status, vocational skills, and employment records, etc. We should fully utilize information technology means such as the Internet of Things and biometric recognition to achieve information-based management. All regions should formulate management measures for the real-name system of construction workers, strengthen supervision and inspection, establish regional real-name management platforms, and promptly collect on-site real-name management data of enterprises. Strengthen the application of real-name system data and integrate real-name system management with the enterprise credit system, market access, commendation and awarding, and handling of wage arrears. Establish a national management and service information platform for construction workers, formulate data standards, and enhance information interconnection and sharing. By 2020, the real-name system for construction workers across the country will be fully implemented.

Iii. Effectively enhance the skills and qualities of construction workers

(V) Strengthen vocational skills training. Establish a vocational education and training system for construction workers with the joint participation of the industry, enterprises, educational institutions and social forces. We should implement the main responsibility of enterprises for vocational training of construction workers, guide enterprises to formulate training plans and systems for construction workers, optimize and integrate training resources, fully rely on on-site construction resources, and carry out pre-job training and skills improvement training through various forms such as establishing training bases, strengthening school-enterprise cooperation, purchasing social training services, and new apprenticeship systems. Encourage professional training institutions, vocational colleges (including technical schools), and social organizations to actively participate in the vocational training of construction workers. In accordance with market requirements, they should leverage their advantages and characteristics to build a training network that complements enterprise training, and continuously expand the full coverage of vocational training for industry workers. Improve the vocational education system. In accordance with the new requirements, new technologies and new norms of industrial development, improve the teaching standard system, update the course content, guide relevant vocational colleges to optimize the setting of construction-related majors, formulate professional talent training plans in light of the actual situation of running schools, and truly serve the cultivation of urgently needed talents in the industry. Strive to achieve full coverage of training for construction workers by 2025.

(6) Improve the skills appraisal system in the construction industry. We should do a good job in formulating relevant vocational skills standards and evaluation norms for construction workers, and promote the vocational appraisal of construction workers in accordance with the occupations and trades stipulated in the national vocational qualification directory. Innovate the examination and training model. Skills appraisal institutions should fully rely on large and medium-sized projects to carry out skills appraisals, combine actual engineering production with assessment and appraisal, solve the contradiction between work and study, improve the effectiveness and pertinence of appraisal and evaluation, and reduce the costs of appraisal venues and equipment.

(7) Establish a skills-oriented incentive mechanism. All regions should formulate standards for personnel allocation at construction sites and urge enterprises to strengthen skills training and conduct skills appraisals. By 2020, the proportion of construction workers with intermediate-level or above qualifications on construction sites should be no less than 10%, and by 2025, it should be no less than 30%. Strengthen supervision and inspection of the skill levels and allocation ratios of on-site operation personnel, and link the relevant situations with market access, bidding and tendering, integrity systems, evaluation and commendation, etc. Encourage relevant departments to release labor cost information for various skill levels and job types, provide information guidance for enterprises to reasonably determine the wages of construction workers, and encourage enterprises to link skill levels with salaries. Guide enterprises to establish an expert database for skilled talents and a chief technician system. Encourage all competent authorities, associations and enterprises to actively carry out on-the-job training, technical competitions and skills contests.

(8) Improve the long-term mechanism for ensuring salary payment. It is necessary to strictly implement the relevant requirements of the "Opinions of The General Office of the State Council on Comprehensively Addressing the Problem of Wage Arrears for Migrant Workers", and fully ensure that general contracting enterprises for construction (including specialized contracting enterprises directly undertaking projects contracted by construction units, hereinafter the same) are fully responsible for the payment of wages to construction workers in the projects they undertake. Subcontracting enterprises (including specialized contracting enterprises and specialized operation enterprises that undertake projects contracted by general contracting enterprises for construction) are directly responsible for the payment of wages to the construction workers they employ. The system of payment guarantee for project funds should be implemented. If the construction entity requires the contractor to provide a performance bond, it should provide the corresponding payment guarantee to the construction contractor to solve the problem of wage arrears for construction workers caused by untimely payment of project funds through economic means. Accelerate the improvement of relevant systems such as wage guarantee funds and emergency turnover funds for wage arrears, establish a "blacklist" system for wage arrears of construction workers, list enterprises with wage arrears on the "blacklist", and publicize the "blacklist" information through "Credit China" and the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. Implement cross-departmental joint punishment and take punitive measures such as restricting market access. In serious cases, the qualification grade will be reduced.

(9) Increase the rate of labor contract signing. Fully implement the labor contract system, formulate simple labor contract model texts suitable for the employment characteristics of the construction industry, intensify labor supervision, urge construction units to sign written labor contracts with the construction workers they employ in accordance with the law, and general contracting enterprises for construction should urge subcontracting enterprises to sign written labor contracts with the construction workers they employ themselves. Construction general contracting enterprises should incorporate labor contract information into real-name management, strictly prohibit the use of labor subcontracting contracts to replace labor contracts, and eliminate the practice of signing contracts on behalf of others. By 2020, the coverage of labor contracts will be basically achieved.

(10) Improve the social insurance contribution mechanism. For construction industry workers, especially migrant workers, who cannot participate in work-related injury insurance as employers but are employed by construction projects, they shall participate in work-related injury insurance on a project-based basis. Reasonably determine the rate of work-related injury insurance, standardize and simplify the procedures for work-related injury determination and labor capacity assessment, and strive to improve the management and service of work-related injury insurance. Strengthen supervision and inspection to ensure that work-related injury insurance covers all construction workers at the construction site. Establish and improve social insurance participation and payment methods that are compatible with the construction industry. Construction enterprises (including specialized operation enterprises) should specify the expenses required for the participation of construction workers in social insurance in the salary of the labor contract and pay social insurance for construction workers in accordance with the law.