[Spring Festival Special Report] New solutions for labor rights protection in new business formats
Our reporter Yang Zhaokui
Editor's note
Since last year, government departments, courts, labor unions, platform companies, etc. have all been actively taking measures to address issues such as the difficulty in identifying labor relations, paying social security, and having the right to express their voices in new employment forms such as takeaway boys and express delivery boys. To solve the problem, breakthroughs have been made in some areas and in some places.
The labor contract template provides a reference for clarifying employment relationships in the field of new employment forms; delivery riders within the scope of the occupational injury protection pilot can quickly get reimbursement of medical expenses through "one-click reporting"; democratic talks between platform companies will give workers a channel to express their demands. …Since 2023, breakthroughs in policy design and practice have become more specific and clear regarding some rights and interests protection issues existing in the development of new employment forms.
There is a new breakthrough in the definition of "incomplete labor relations"
"After the "Guiding Opinions on Safeguarding the Labor Security Rights and Interests of Workers in New Employment Forms" came out, the standards for identifying labor relations have not changed, but the relationship between flexible employment personnel such as crowdsourcing riders and enterprises has been classified as not fully consistent with the establishment of labor relations. situation, and pointed out that relevant departments should guide enterprises to enter into written agreements with such workers, reasonably determine the rights and obligations of both parties, and gradually promote the inclusion of such workers into the scope of minimum wage, rest and other system protections. This is a major breakthrough in policy. As a major breakthrough in the policy. The new expression of my country's labor policy system is not completely consistent with the circumstances for establishing labor relations, laying the normative foundation for my country to explore the third type of labor relations. Starting from this, the labor administrative departments and courts actively explore new business labor security models that adapt to my country's national conditions. ." said Wang Tianyu, deputy director of the Social Law Office of the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
In February last year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued the "Guidelines for the Establishment of Labor Contracts and Written Agreements for Workers in the New Employment Form (Trial)", which unified the "Labor Contract Text for the New Employment Form", "Written Agreement Text for the New Employment Form" and The three texts "Written Agreement Text for Workers in New Employment Forms (Three Parties)" provide a reference for workers in the field of new employment forms and related employment entities to clarify employment relationships.
Wang Tianyu said that since 2023, breakthroughs in policy design or judicial level have been more specific and clear in response to some problems existing in the development of new employment forms. In May last year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Supreme People's Court jointly issued the "Third Batch of Typical Labor and Personnel Dispute Cases", which directionally defined the constituent elements and judgment standards of "incomplete labor relations" through case-based explanations, providing a basis for Discussions on this issue in theoretical circles provide a basis for judicial policy, and also provide a reference for courts to determine "incomplete labor relations" without legislation.
Shen Jianfeng, a professor at the Law School of the Central University of Finance and Economics, said that the typical cases released this time clarified the standards for the determination of labor relations in new employment forms and the identification of employment entities, established the principle of fact priority, and once again made it clear that registration as a self-employed person does not affect the determination of labor relations and other adjudicative standards. .
However, Shi Fumao, a lawyer at Beijing Fumao Law Firm, pointed out that although it is difficult for flexible personnel such as food delivery riders to confirm the labor relationship with platform companies, there are many judicial precedents on the existence of labor relations between food delivery riders and service outsourcing companies. Therefore, whether there is a management The relationship with the managed, analyzing which company belongs to the beneficiary of the labor provided by the laborer, thereby determining which company the laborer has a labor relationship with.
6.68 million people have been covered by occupational injury protection
In November last year, Mr. Zhu, who was delivering food in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, was injured in a traffic accident while delivering food. Since Guangdong Province implemented the occupational injury protection pilot work as required in July 2022, Mr. Zhu received the occupational injury confirmation conclusion within a few days after "one-click reporting" through the platform and submitted the materials online, and quickly reported More than 3,000 yuan in medical expenses were sold.
Lawyer Yao Junchang, senior partner of Beijing Weiheng Law Firm, pointed out that because many workers in new employment forms face difficulties in confirming labor relations, it is difficult to obtain work-related injury compensation after an accident.
In July 2022, the pilot program for occupational injury protection for employees in the new employment form will be launched. The first batch of pilots will be carried out in 7 platform companies and 7 provinces and cities.
It is reported that the occupational injury protection pilot adopts payment per order, and the premium is borne by the platform where the employees work. It is free for employees. Every order and everyone must be insured. If those employed in the new employment form within the scope of the pilot are unfortunately injured in an accident, they can click on the "one-click report" on the mobile APP as soon as conditions permit, take photos of the accident scene, and save the diagnosis and treatment notes generated during the medical treatment process. , you can conveniently enjoy occupational injury protection services.
Data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security show that as of September last year, a total of 6.68 million people had been included in the scope of occupational injury protection, and the pilot subjects were generally covered. Over the past year, the pilot provinces have made a total of 32,000 occupational injury confirmations and paid a total of 490 million yuan in occupational injury protection benefits.
Shen Jianfeng pointed out that in July last year, Zhejiang Province also issued the "Zhejiang Provincial Measures for Employers to Recruit Specific Personnel Who Do Not Meet the Establishment of Labor Relationships to Participate in Work-related Injury Insurance (Trial)" to include people with new employment forms into the work-related injury insurance system, which is conducive to further Protect the rights and interests of relevant workers and spread the employment risks of employers.
Democratic symposium enhances workers’ right to speak
Faced with unreasonable complaints and negative reviews, many workers in new employment forms such as couriers, takeaway riders, and online ride-hailing drivers have reported that it is often difficult to appeal through the platform and it is difficult to succeed. In this regard, Zhang Chenggang, associate professor at Capital University of Economics and Business and director of the China New Employment Formation Research Center, believes that the relatively weak voice of workers in the new employment form is one of the reasons why their labor rights and interests cannot be effectively protected.
In recent years, trade unions at all levels have promoted platform companies to conduct consultations and dialogues with workers in new forms of employment through symposiums, forming negotiation minutes or agreements on labor remuneration, algorithm optimization, labor safety, career development, care, dispute resolution, etc. Reach an agreement, establish a smooth channel for expressing demands, and achieve an initial breakthrough in the construction of a consultation mechanism for platform enterprises.
On November 17 last year, Meituan’s first national rider symposium was held in Beijing. Rider representatives from all over the country brought various rights protection issues that riders are concerned about, mainly focusing on income remuneration, safety and security, career development and other aspects. In this regard, Meituan representatives synchronized relevant work progress with riders at the meeting. In order to facilitate riders to rest and obtain supplies at any time, as of November last year, Meituan had built more than 38,000 rider stations across the country through self-construction, social co-construction, and cooperation with brand merchants. In order to strengthen delivery safety under special weather conditions, Meituan has also activated an emergency mechanism to provide riders with help such as delivery extension time and negative review elimination under special weather conditions such as blizzards and strong winds, and dynamically adjusts the delivery radius to shorten rider exposure. Time outdoors.
"Today, the coverage and representativeness of corporate democracy forums in Internet platform companies have been greatly improved, effectively solving the problem of poor channels for young people to express their demands." said Wang Kan, a researcher at the Comparative Trade Union Research Center of the China Institute of Labor Relations. (Worker Daily)