BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A ruling of the Beijing Higher People's Court Monday says migrant workers can file cases for free against employers to get back their unpaid wages.

    They no longer need to prove their financial difficulty to get the aid, according to the new ruling that has taken effect immediately in all Beijing courts.

    Courts used to demand that workers provide a document from their employers saying they could not afford legal costs, China Daily reported Wednesday, quoting Li Qingjun, a lawyer who handles dozens of migrant workers' salary disputes a year, as saying.

    With the new ruling, the workers do not have to pay to freeze the employer's assets.

    "The review will make access easier for migrant workers to file suit, therefore gaining a bigger stake in winning their salaries back," Wang Ming, deputy director of the Beijing High People's Court said.

    The court is also authorized to order that migrant workers' salaries be paid before the trial is finished if the judgment is clear, China Daily said.

    The review comes at a time when the number of cases is on the rise.

    Of more than 120 million migrant workers in cities, the number of such disputes is the highest in the civil construction industry, where companies usually do not sign labor contracts with migrants and wages are rarely paid on time.

    Sometimes, construction workers who do not get their cases resolved on time organize sit-ins or visit the court in groups, disrupting the normal order of the courts.

    The ruling is part of a growing trend in which many local courts are providing more legal weapons for rural labors to protect their rights.     Enditem