A few days ago, a company waiver letter asking female employees to voluntarily leave the company if they became pregnant has attracted attention on social media.
The letter of commitment reads: "I solemnly promise that once I become pregnant while working in the company, I will voluntarily resign and give up any economic compensation and relevant legal responsibilities of this unit."
The Red Star News reporter contacted the female employee who posted the post. She was sure that the letter of commitment was true, but she refused to give more details because she "has not yet resigned and is inconvenient to be interviewed."
Deng Qianqiu, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, told the Red Star News reporter that this kind of phenomenon is not an isolated case, and the hidden fertility discrimination in some companies has actually been banned repeatedly.
In 2019, according to multiple media reports, a university reported that "female employees were punished for failing to report pregnancy", which caused heated discussions.
The notice issued by the school mentioned that "the whole school will be criticized in a circular, withholding 6 months of performance pay" and "cancelling the evaluation and evaluation of professional titles within two years" for female employees who have not reported pregnant women.
"Pregnancy has to be reported, births have to be queued, and jumping in the queue to get pregnant may be dismissed" immediately sparked heated discussions.
According to Xinhuanet, after the incident, the university said on its official Weibo account that the relevant departments of the university had insufficient standardization in the process of implementing the relevant regulations, and decided to revoke the relevant documents.
Three people were criticized for violating the regulations and six months' performance pay was withheld.
So, what is the root cause behind corporate fertility discrimination?
How can we put a "stop" on corporate fertility discrimination?
Red Star News sorted out the labor dispute cases caused by the pregnancy of female employees on the Judgment Documents Network, and interviewed a number of experts and lawyers to discuss how to change the issue of female fertility discrimination in the workplace.
Is the "pregnancy quit" commitment valid?
Lawyer: Being forced to sign a promise is an invalid clause
Deng Qianqiu told the Red Star News reporter that if this letter of commitment violated the true meaning of the laborers, it was signed by the laborers under coercion in order to keep their jobs and were coerced. " is an invalid clause."
Since it is an invalid clause, for what purpose did the company draw up such a letter of commitment?
It is inconvenient to protect rights if you have not left your job yet, and once you leave your job, you will face labor arbitration or litigation, which consumes time and energy.
Under the birth discrimination, what kind of predicament is the female employee in?
Lawyer Chen Jiawei of Beijing Dayu Law Firm told Red Star News that a legally invalid letter of commitment is mainly a psychological deterrent to employees. ".
Lawyer Wei Junling, who is also in Beijing Dayu Law Firm, told the Red Star News reporter that in practice, there are many small and micro enterprises that do not have legal affairs or have insufficient legal business capabilities.
Faced with such a letter of commitment, how should female employees defend their rights?
Wei Junling told the Red Star News reporter that if she is forced to leave her post after pregnancy and needs to defend her rights, she can go to labor arbitration; if she intends to refuse to sign the letter of commitment, she will defend her rights immediately, and she needs to use recordings and other means to retain evidence to prove that the company has not signed an agreement. Threats of dismissal.
Deng Qianqiu told the Red Star News reporter that when faced with the company's request to sign a letter of commitment, workers are in a disadvantaged position.
If you openly object, you may lose your job immediately; if you don't object, you can only sign the agreement, so you are in a dilemma.
Deng Qianqiu said that the common measures taken by enterprises to discriminate against female employees in childbearing include: blocking the entrance - not recruiting women of appropriate age and childless; putting forward a pregnancy report preparation system, female employees take turns giving birth, and can be pregnant only after approval; Wages and forced resignation by various means after pregnancy.
Labor disputes caused by pregnancy occur from time to time
It's not just employees who suffer
Red Star News reporters found that labor disputes due to pregnancy occur from time to time.
According to the incomplete search, among the 766,940 labor arbitrations disclosed on the Judgment Documents Network, 4,620 involved “pregnancy”; among the 3,299,840 labor disputes, 10,392 involved “pregnancy”.
Taking a civil judgment made by the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province in 2021 as an example, after a female employee Liu became pregnant, her company arranged business trips for her many times. It was determined that he was incompetent for his original position, and he was transferred from Shandong to Guangdong.
Liu could not accept the major change in the workplace and was unable to perform his duties in Guangdong. Subsequently, the employer terminated the labor contract because of his refusal to show up and absenteeism, and the two sides fell into a dispute.
After review, the court held that the company involved notified Liu that his work place would be adjusted from Shandong to Guangdong during his pregnancy, and that the adjustment would have a significant impact on Liu's life, which Liu also refused.
In the absence of an agreement with Liu on the adjustment of the workplace, the company has no legal basis to terminate the labor relationship with Liu on the grounds that he is overdue.
However, it is worth noting that in these labor disputes, the laborers are not absolutely disadvantaged, and the rights and interests of enterprises are often damaged.
Take a civil ruling issued by the Higher People's Court of Hubei Province in 2021 as an example.
During the period from November 13, 2019 to December 9, 2019, a company successively issued a Letter of Intent to Renew the Labor Contract, a Letter of Inquiry for Negotiating Changes to the Labor Contract, and a Letter of Confirmation for Negotiating Changes to the Labor Contract to the employee Dong. A final answer disagrees with the transfer.
On December 11, 2019, after the company issued the "Notice of Termination of Labor Contract" to Dong, Dong signed the notice and left no objection.
However, after signing the notice, Dong Mou verbally informed the company that he was pregnant, and the two parties fell into a labor dispute because "the labor relationship with the employee shall not be terminated during pregnancy".
In the end, the court found that the objective situation on which the labor contract was concluded had undergone major changes, which made the labor contract impossible to perform.
The court ruled: Dong's application for retrial for the company to pay the difference in compensation in accordance with Article 87 of the "Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China" was rejected.
Wei Junling told the Red Star News reporter that in labor disputes caused by pregnancy and childbirth, companies often face the problem of damage to their interests, and "can only suffer from dumb losses."
↑On August 17, the National Health and Health Commission held a press conference. Liu Juan, deputy director of the Treatment and Security Department of the National Medical Insurance Administration, introduced the "Guiding Opinions on Further Improving and Implementing Active Reproductive Support Measures".
Figure Visual China
How to break the business birth discrimination?
Multi-party efforts to build a positive fertility support system
Deng Qianqiu said that the phenomenon of birth discrimination in enterprises has a long history, and there are economic motivations behind enterprises. Once female employees are pregnant and give birth, enterprises must pay considerable economic costs to comply with the relevant provisions of labor laws.
"Labor laws stipulate that pregnant employees may not be dismissed, and the protection of women's rights and interests is immediate. Enterprises must comply, or they will violate the law." Deng Qianqiu summarized this situation as "the state treats guests, and the enterprise pays the bill."
For economic reasons, some enterprises have made different degrees of "dodging" behaviors, such as refusing to recruit married women without children.
On August 17, Liu Juan, deputy director of the Department of Treatment and Security of the National Medical Insurance Administration, said at a press conference held by the National Health and Health Commission that practice has shown that excessive maternity leave may cause working women's fertility concerns and increase women's employment. Discrimination is not conducive to the fair employment of men and women, and then affects women's willingness to bear children. It is necessary to consider the burdens of all parties and the impact on employment, comprehensively implement policies, share responsibilities, and jointly build a positive fertility support system.
Just as Liu Juan pointed out that the long maternity leave caused employment discrimination, Deng Qianqiu told the Red Star News reporter that the protection of women's rights and interests in labor laws has increased the economic cost of enterprise employment, and objectively speaking, it has increased to some extent. Employment difficulties for women.
"But it's not realistic to change from 'government treats guests, enterprises pay' to 'government treats, government pays'. The government pays a lot of pressure and needs to pay a certain supervision cost." Deng Qianqiu said.
At the same time, he believes that what needs to be established is a complete birth support policy system with careful supporting measures.
On August 3, 2021, "China Women's Daily" published the article "Improving the Fertility Support System from a Female-Friendly Perspective". ” explained that it was an important decision to “implement the policy of a couple having three children and implement supporting support”, emphasizing reducing the cost of childbirth, parenting and education, and pointing to the improvement of the maternity leave and maternity insurance system, and the strengthening of taxation, housing, In addition to the birth support policies such as education supply, it is especially required to protect the legitimate rights and interests of women in employment and to promote equal employment of women.
The article writes: Based on the idea of paying equal attention to women's development and fertility support, this paper proposes a path to reduce the burden of fertility and build a fertility support system, and emphasizes that only by implementing the gender equality and women-friendly perspectives in the construction of the fertility support system can it be expected to improve fertility. Rate.
Yang Fan, a researcher at the Population and Development Research Center of Renmin University of China and director of the Department of Demography, also said in an interview with Red Star News that my country can redesign the existing maternity insurance system to protect men and women in maternity leave, paternity leave and childcare The income level is basically stable during the holiday.
Equal rights and responsibilities, while expanding the scope of protection, it is also necessary to expand the payment group.
For example, the economic cost of parental leave is borne by the mutual fund jointly paid by enterprises and individuals, and the government provides subsidies to varying degrees depending on the stage changes and policy orientation.
Yang Fan also pointed out that in the current population situation, childbearing has gone beyond the scope of family affairs, and it is reasonable for individuals, enterprises and the government to bear certain costs.
Red Star News reporter Wu Yang intern reporter Wang Chenyuan reported in Beijing