"Thank you to the procuratorate for safeguarding my rights. The company has paid me a salary of 3,000 yuan in the past two days, and I am also going through the formalities for back payment of social security." On January 29, when the prosecutor of the Third Procuratorate of the People's Procuratorate of Zhenjiang Economic Development Zone, Jiangsu Province When Zhang Lei called back to visit Li Ya (pseudonym), the person on the other end of the phone thanked her profusely.
On January 23, "Internet anchor" Li Ya asked for help from the 12309 Procuratorial Service Center of the People's Procuratorate of Zhenjiang Economic Development Zone: "My boss fired me and scolded me. I haven't paid my salary or paid social security. I should How to protect your rights?”
Li Ya is 19 years old. She graduated from high school more than a year ago and has worked as a supermarket cashier and a clothing store salesperson. In October 2023, when she was surfing the Internet, she saw that a company calling itself an "Internet Celebrity Incubation" organization was recruiting online anchors. Li Ya, who usually likes to sing and dance, felt that she had a good image and temperament, so she contacted this online live broadcast company.
The person who interviewed Li Ya was the person in charge of the company, Manager Zhang. After he asked Li Ya to sing a few "hot songs" and show off her dancing skills, he agreed to hire her. Li Ya asked about the salary, and Manager Zhang told her that the monthly base salary was 3,000 yuan, plus 40% of the live broadcast reward commission. Li Ya was very moved after hearing this. She simply read the contract and signed it, becoming a "talent anchor".
The company arranged a special live broadcast room for her. At the beginning, Li Ya was very dedicated and hard-working, feeling like an "artist", but it didn't take long for her to find that things were not as simple as expected.
Because they were all ordinary dance moves and her singing skills were not outstanding, Li Ya failed to attract much attention. She was slightly introverted and rarely interacted with netizens. The live broadcast room was deserted and the rewards were very few. Some netizens personally attacked her on the "public screen" and even asked for vulgar performances, which made her very frustrated.
As the attention of the live broadcast never increased, Manager Zhang gradually lost patience with Li Ya. Later, the company recruited several new anchors one after another, and their number of followers increased to thousands.
Li Ya began to doubt whether she was suitable to be an online anchor. She lost her confidence and became less and less interested in live broadcasts. Sometimes she would stay in the live broadcast room for two hours in a row without speaking or moving. Once the company arranged a "PK" with Lian Mai, and Li Ya, who was emotionally broken, directly clicked "Reject". This incident became a trigger. Manager Zhang, who was already dissatisfied with Li Ya, chose to fire her directly. Li Ya's "internet celebrity dream" was shattered in only 19 days.
"We agreed on a basic salary of 3,000 yuan, plus 40% of the reward commission. So far, we have only given 500 yuan. They said that I have not completed the number of live broadcast days and there is no basic salary." Li Ya dug out the chat history with her boss and cried aggrievedly. .
The prosecutor who received her believed that the live broadcast company may be suspected of wage arrears and could activate the "inspection and investigation docking" mechanism they established with the labor arbitration committee to jointly resolve the labor dispute.
Subsequently, the prosecutor helped Li Ya organize WeChat chat records, mobile phone transfer vouchers and other evidence, guided Li Ya to draft the "Labor Dispute Arbitration Application", quickly accepted and reviewed it, and issued it to the Economic Development Zone Labor Arbitration Committee on January 23. Letter of Support for Arbitration.
On January 25, the Labor Arbitration Committee invited prosecutors to participate in the mediation of the labor dispute between Li Ya and the live broadcast company.
At the beginning of the mediation, Manager Zhang said: "Our company has to spend money to buy traffic and manage it. These are costs. According to the contract, she cannot get a basic salary. A commission of several hundred yuan is not bad." Manager Zhang told the prosecutor According to the introduction, the company currently has more than a dozen anchors and has invested a lot of money. However, the gift rewards are not as large as expected, and it has been in a state of loss.
Regarding inappropriate remarks on the "public screen", Manager Zhang said that they have been exploring ways to manage them through keyword blocking, blacklisting, banning, and reporting to the platform. Regarding the contract signed between the company and Li Ya, Manager Zhang insisted that it was a cooperation agreement and not a labor contract.
The prosecutor pointed out that the contract between the two parties stipulated that Li Ya must be on the air "24 days a month and 6 hours a day" and need to receive talent training arranged by the company. Li Ya was also repeatedly asked in the WeChat chat records to obey the working hours arranged by the company. The location, content and method, and the two parties also agreed on a salary model of basic salary plus commission. It can be seen that Li Ya is obviously subordinate to the company and is not an equal cooperative relationship. The two should be deemed to be a labor relationship.
The Labor Arbitration Commission also actively carries out mediation and patiently publicizes labor laws and regulations to both parties. Manager Zhang realized that something was wrong with the company, and issued a written commitment on the same day, agreeing to pay an additional basic salary of 3,000 yuan and make up social security contributions for Li Ya. Li Ya agreed to withdraw the labor arbitration application. This labor dispute was finally resolved through joint mediation by the Procuratorate and Arbitration.
The prosecutor handling the case from the People's Procuratorate of Zhenjiang Economic Development Zone reminded that online anchors are a new form of employment, and the income gap between top anchors and bottom anchors is huge. To enter the online anchor industry, you must have a clear self-awareness and be familiar with the content of the contract. On the Internet, carefully choose to sign a labor contract, brokerage contract, cooperation agreement or other types of contracts with the online live broadcast operating unit. "If the company signs a cooperation agreement on the surface but actually manages it according to labor relations, the anchor should save the evidence in a timely manner and safeguard his own rights and interests in accordance with the law."
Li Changcheng, Zhao Jing, China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Li Chao Source: China Youth Daily