A Shenzhen-based medical device manufacturer, known for its fetal heart rate monitors and exports to nearly 100 countries, is facing severe financial turmoil after accumulating months of unpaid wages. Employees say the company has repeatedly delayed salary payments, and many have been forced to resign after failing to recover their money through arbitration and court enforcement.

The company, Shenzhen Basman Precision Instruments Co., Ltd, has acknowledged the wage arrears, which it claims total over 1 million yuan affecting around 30 staff. A company representative attributed the financial strain to a failed attempt to prepare for a stock market listing, stating the company is hopeful a bankruptcy restructuring will allow it to continue operations and eventually settle its debts.

Wage Arrears

Employees who spoke to reporters described a long and frustrating struggle. One worker, who stayed for over four years partly due to concerns about finding new work at age 54, said the company would frequently pay wages in small, irregular installments to keep staff on board. Another employee stated that an 8,000 yuan monthly salary sometimes had to be split into three separate payments. A former worker who left last year said the company management was upfront about financial hardships during his onboarding, leading him to believe the payment delays were temporary and that the firm was still credible enough to trust.

According to a labor inspection penalty notice issued by the Shenzhen Guangming District Human Resources Bureau, the company was found to have withheld wages for 51 employees between March 2025 and January 2026, amounting to a total of 3,675,201.06 yuan. After an administrative deadline to correct the issue lapsed, the company had still only reduced the outstanding amount by about half. The bureau imposed a heavy fine of 50,000 yuan on the company for this violation.

The company, established in 2001, describes itself as a leading brand in the fetal monitoring and Doppler blood flow detection sectors. It markets itself as a high-tech research, development, and manufacturing firm holding ISO quality management certifications and having exported its products to 98 countries and regions across Europe, the Americas, Oceania, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Employee Legal Battles

All affected employees who pursued legal action managed to get mediation or arbitration rulings in their favor, which ordered the company to pay installments. However, the company has continuously failed to meet these obligations. When the workers sought enforcement through the courts, they were unable to recover funds as the company was officially found to have no executable assets.

This situation prompted one employee to file a bankruptcy liquidation application against the company in the local people's court, on the ground that the firm was unable to pay due debts and was clearly lacking in solvency. The court accepted this application early this year. Following the bankruptcy filing, the local human resources department stepped in to provide wage subsidies to some workers under a government compensation mechanism, though the amounts only covered a fraction of the total owed. One employee managed to secure a 40,000 yuan advance on the 140,000 yuan he was owed in wages alone, while another received just 20,000 yuan, and a third employee had his subsidy application rejected for missing specific criteria.

Company's Position

A spokesperson provided an update on the company's current state, confirming the existence of the wage arrears but asserting that the business is still running, with overseas orders remaining stable and a loyal core of long-time employees still in place. The spokesperson explained that the severe cash flow crisis stems from a significant financial gap created years ago when the company initiated a listing process, a move that consumed vast resources while waiting for approval. This process, they state, drained the company's liquidity.

The representative stated the company's management has always been willing to acknowledge the debt and has been finding ways to pay, either through seeking investors or securing loans. They added that the company has had to be transparent about its financial status in job interviews since around 2024. Now, the company intends to put the listing plans on hold and focus on maintaining operations to generate enough cash to pay its creditors. They have also asked employees to withdraw their bankruptcy applications, hoping that without insolvency proceedings, the firm can keep trading and pay back the wages through future business profits, emphasizing that the company accepts and will repay all outstanding wages that are not covered by government subsidies.

Legal Perspective

Speaking on the legal intricacies, a lawyer from a Beijing law firm, commenting on the case, clarified that while the employees are in a very strong legal position regarding their claims, the main risk lies in the company's insolvency. He stressed that a company's promise to pay wages later must not be considered a legal justification for non-payment. Even if employees agree to delayed payment, such agreements are void under labor law, which requires timely and full payment regardless of a company's operational risks.

The lawyer explained that while a "termination of enforcement procedure" in court stops the immediate execution, it does not extinguish the debt. For restructuring attempts, he cautioned that a simple request for more time is not a legal option. If the company wants to avoid liquidation, it must formalize this through a court-approved restructuring or reconciliation plan, not just an informal verbal promise. He advised workers to keep a close eye on the bankruptcy manager's work, ensure their claims are fully and correctly listed, and actively search for hidden assets, ownership issues, or unpaid shareholder contributions. He also noted that employees who believe their government subsidy claims were wrongly rejected have the right to appeal those decisions through administrative review or litigation.

Ultimately, the lawyer advised employees to base their decisions on the concrete legal documents produced through the bankruptcy proceedings, which offer a more reliable guarantee than the company's informal verbal commitments to pay them back later.