A growing chorus of calls has been rising among China's city dwellers for paid leave to spare them the sweat of going out in the current sweltering summer heat.

Surprisingly, these calls are not being led by those working outside under the direct glare of the sun, but rather by those in the ultra-modern high rises that characterize the country's leading cities.

Last year, as the south of the country was gripped by temperatures in the high 30s and even 40s a number of deputies to cities' legislators, university experts and trade union members suggested legislation be introduced to allow employees to have paid leave on excessively hot days.

This year, Beijing, Shanghai and some other northern provincial capitals have been feeling the heat.

But it seems the people most exposed to the sweltering summer sun are also the ones who complain the least.

Migrant workers on construction sites, farmers toiling in fields and workers boiling in factories might be expected to top the list of complainers, but they are not.

"I've never thought I should get a rest due to the weather change," said Liu Zhenfeng, 48, of Langfang, Hebei Province, currently laboring on a construction site in Huixin Dongjie in Beijing's Chaoyang District.

"Nor have my colleagues," he added. They all work for about 12 to 16 hours a day starting at 6:30 am."

What they do want is to be paid on time. But that demand seldom materializes.

Beijing is no exception in joining the discussions on paid leave triggered by the unbearable heat.

"However, currently there is no legal support for the setting of summer leave," said Wang Chengjing, publicity director of the Beijing Municipal Labor and Social Security Bureau. Wang said there was no universal labor policy for summer leave or a preferential working policy.

But other policies are in place. In May the authority issued a notice to all enterprises, saying that even if workers are taking breaks or working off-peak shifts, they must still receive full pay.

For those busy on farmland, collecting crops and spreading seeds, working under the scorching sun is to be expected.

"The growth of corn, pests and weeds will not change to fit your new work timetable," said Li Changliang, a farmer in Linyi, Shandong Province.

Liu Cuixiao, a researcher at the law institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the time is not right to launch a summer leave program.

"There are so many changeable factors for judging the proper timing for taking leave, but it's also hard to find an applicable solution for everyone," she said.

(China Daily July 8, 2005)