"Shared employees" alleviates labor shortage, and promotion needs to improve legal support
Our reporter Liu Hongyu
After the Spring Festival every year, a large number of factories worry about "recruiting people."
In the context of the epidemic, in order to help enterprises resume work and production in Dongguan, Guangdong, the "world factory", the "shared employees" model emerged, subtly alleviating this temporary and seasonal problem.
The so-called "shared employees" refers to the adjustment of the surplus and shortage of labor between the surplus enterprise and the enterprise lacking work. The employees of the surplus enterprise are loaned to the enterprise lacking work within a certain period of time, and the labor relationship and social security relationship between the employee and the original employer constant.
Compared with direct recruitment, the seconded company does not establish a labor relationship with the seconded employee, and the employment flexibility is higher.
After a year of operation, how has the model progressed in practice?
What common problems are facing?
Can its vitality last?
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter conducted an investigation.
"Shared employees" to achieve a win-win situation
At the entrance of a toy factory in Chang'an Town, Dongguan, a huge slogan was posted: "The company's internal employees introduce relatives and friends to the job, and they will receive an introduction award of 2,000 yuan per person."
In spite of the huge investment in machinery replacements over the years, the number of workers in this toy factory has dropped from the highest peak of 14,000 more than 10 years ago to the current 3,300, but there is still a shortage of manpower.
"Since the fourth quarter of last year, the factory has entered the peak season and orders have blown out. At present, there is still a shortage of about 500 workers." A person in charge of the factory told reporters that "there are orders but a shortage of workers", and recruitment has become a top priority for the company.
In April 2020, with the assistance of local taxation and human resources and social departments, this toy factory once reached a cooperation with another company under the model of "shared employees".
At that time, Ming'an Sports Equipment (Dongguan) Co., Ltd. (referred to as Ming'an Company), located in Humen town next door, agreed to "share" with 250 employees of this toy factory to relieve its urgent need.
"Our two companies started discussing how employees can share things as early as seven or eight years ago." The head of the toy factory said, but he has not been able to talk about it. The main problem is that the law does not support it.
For example, how to define the nature of shared employees?
How to solve problems such as work injury and social insurance?
Because the employer has not established a labor relationship with the employees in law, is the remuneration paid to them whether they are wages or salaries...
The epidemic provides an opportunity to solve the legal problem of "shared employees".
The Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security has issued guidelines for the adjustment of after-employment shortages in enterprises, and the tax department has tailored a "shared employee suggestion plan".
The person in charge recalled that his toy factory entered the peak production season at that time, while the Mingan company was still in the off-season, and employees appeared to be idle.
Encouraged by relevant policies, the two companies hit it off and reached a "shared employees" agreement.
About three months later, the 250 borrowed employees successfully completed the production tasks and returned to Mingan.
According to the agreement, the employee's wages will be directly paid by the toy factory to Ming'an Company, and then Ming'an Company will distribute to the employees; Ming'an Company also provides additional allowances to shared employees, and sends buses to pick up and drop off employees every morning and evening.
Before returning to the factory after the secondment, the toy factory invited the management of Mingan Company to jointly commend more than 20 outstanding shared employees.
Yao Maoji, director of the Security Branch of the Dongguan City Taxation Commissioner, said that looking back, the two companies have shared success and have a certain common basis: both are foreign-funded companies, and they are relatively similar in terms of values and corporate management concepts; they are complementary in production cycles. The off-peak and peak seasons are staggered; there is a foundation of mutual trust, and they are more caring for employees.
According to data from the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, since the introduction of "shared employees", 1,019 companies in Dongguan have started docking, with more than 20,000 "shared employees".
Fulikai Medical Products (Dongguan) Co., Ltd. (Fulikai Company for short) is located in Hengli Town, Dongguan City. Vice President Zhao Binggang said, "In February last year, the company applied for early resumption of work, but no workers were found. In mid-March, I I accidentally saw that the nearby Black Rose Company has idle employees and can share more than 100 people. We immediately contacted the town's Human Resources and Social Security Bureau to coordinate and start sharing employees."
Every winter is the peak season for Dongguan Black Rose Food Co., Ltd. (Black Rose Company for short), but at the beginning of last year, due to the impact of the epidemic, a large number of orders for the company were cancelled, and more than 200 employees faced nothing to do.
"Shareholders are very anxious. These employees can't be fired casually, especially skilled workers who have trained for many years. On the other hand, workers who only receive a basic salary are also very anxious, and many people have to support their families." Yang Min, the company's China Finance Director Said that Fulikai just needed workers, and the two sides hit it off.
From mid-March to the end of July, 107 employees of Black Rose Company shared with Fulikai Company.
Liu Changlong, Chief Financial Officer of Fulikai, said that their shared success has three conditions: first, the two sides have similar production models, and both are dust-free production workshops; second, both sides have similar salary levels and similar corporate cultures, and both want to retain employees; The two factories are close to each other, only six or seven kilometers away, and the transportation is convenient.
The relevant person in charge of the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security said, “This approach has achieved a win-win situation for multiple parties.” The lending company believes that the “shared employees” model has helped the company save human resource costs and increase labor flexibility; the borrowing company said, “ "Sharing employees" has more advantages than labor dispatch. The employees have high stability and good overall quality. Employees say that "sharing" allows them to stabilize their income and learn a more craft.
How is the legal status determined?
In the Pearl River Delta, "shared employees" has already existed, but it is limited by the lack of support at the legal level, and there is no large-scale promotion.
In July 2019, Guangdong Ducaizi Group Co., Ltd. launched the self-developed "Ducaizi Staggered Employment Platform" system. 32 large manufacturing companies spontaneously became shareholders and jointly conducted trial operations.
"The total number of employees in 32 companies is 100,000, and there are 10,000 employees that can be shared." said Wang Yuehong, chairman of Guangdong Ducaizi Group Co., Ltd.
Regarding common issues such as legal and tax aspects that may arise during the period of shifting employment, 32 shareholders have reached a consensus on labor relations, work injury liability, salary payment, continuation of working years, and liability for breach of contract based on the principle of "who hires the job, who is responsible" .
How to deal with specific tax-related issues?
Wang Yuehong found Wu Yuquan, Director of the Taxation Bureau of Dongguan Songshan Lake High-tech Industrial Development Zone, State Administration of Taxation.
"This is a new format. You can try it first." Wu Yuquan encouraged Wang Yuehong to say: "The new format already exists objectively. The lagging law enforcement basis should be changed. You can't adjust the new format to adapt to the old regulations, right?" Wu Yuquan's words let Wang Yuehong eat. A "reassurance pill".
A series of related issues have also aroused heated discussions in the judicial circle.
Under the leadership of the Human Resources and Social Security Department, "shared employees" involved legal issues and initially formed the following social consensus.
Does the laborer and the seconded enterprise constitute a dual labor relationship?
From the perspective of the nature of the three legal relations of "shared employment", during the secondment period, the lending company and the seconded company have a labor seconded civil contract relationship. The labor relationship between the lending company and the laborer remains unchanged, and the seconded company and the laborer are the same. The relationship is only the use of labor, but there is no labor relationship, so there will be no dual labor relationship between the laborer and the seconded enterprise.
Who pays the wages during the secondment period?
During the employee’s secondment period, the principal responsible for the payment of wages is still the original employer, but the lending company and the seconding company can agree that the seconding company shall settle the wages of the seconded employee to the borrowing company on time.
As for the payment method of workers' wages, the lending company, seconded company and employees can be clarified through a tripartite agreement.
What should I do if there is a work-related injury in the seconded company for "shared employment"?
According to the "Work Injury Insurance Regulations", if an employee is injured by an industrial accident during the secondment period, the original employer shall bear the liability for industrial injury insurance, but the original employer and the seconded enterprise may agree on compensation methods.
If an employee has a work-related accident during the secondment period, the lending company shall be responsible for applying for work-related injury identification and undertaking work-related injury insurance liabilities, and the seconding company shall provide assistance.
Wang Yuehong said that although the relevant legal facilities have been improved, no relevant legal disputes have occurred in the course of practice.
"Several incidents of cerebral hemorrhage occurred during the sharing period, and they have all been dealt with fairly, and no family members have made any complaints."
"A certain Dianchuang Technology Co., Ltd. is a Hong Kong-funded enterprise. During the epidemic, it successfully solved the employment problem of two to three thousand people through the peak-shifting employment platform." Wang Yuehong smiled and said, "The boss of the company is very grateful for this platform and said it is resolved. In order to solve the big problem of the enterprise, the platform transaction service fee is only a few hundred thousand yuan, which is too small. I have to reward me with another 2 million yuan."
The successful trials of 32 companies sharing employees strengthened Wang Yuehong's confidence in further expanding the sharing platform.
As of October 2020, the "Ducaizi Staggered Employment Platform" has registered 227 employment enterprises and 673 human resource service organizations, and has achieved more than 38,000 off-peak labor services.
Can the recruitment difficulties be solved?
On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2021, despite various incentives to keep employees in Guangdong for the New Year, many factories in the Pearl River Delta still call for shortages.
According to analysis by Ouyang Wei, general manager of the Dongguan Branch of Zhitong Talent Chain Group, August 2020 is a turning point in the employment situation throughout the year, and the employment situation has undergone a fundamental reversal.
According to data from the Dongguan talent market, in September last year, corporate recruitment activity increased by 11% year-on-year, while the number of job-seekers registered decreased by 9.5%; by November, corporate recruitment activity reached a peak, and in early November, the number of corporate job postings demand increased year-on-year 30%.
Ouyang Wei said that the labor demand for new infrastructure such as cloud computing and 5G is significantly more than in previous years; there is a large labor gap in new business formats; and there is a long-term shortage of people in the fields of automation and machinery.
In the face of structural contradictions, can the "shared employees" model solve the fundamental problems?
"The shared employee model can only be used as a supplementary way to solve the'employment shortage'. It can solve local problems, but it is difficult to solve general problems." Li Yangyue, vice president of Zhitong Talent Chain Group, said bluntly that shared employees are only aimed at idle companies. Formal workers, while there are more temporary workers and hourly workers in the market, they need to be adjusted by institutions such as the talent market and labor service companies.
Li Yangyue said that in the future, the large-scale promotion of the "shared employees" model will face multiple challenges: first, how to quickly solve the problem of mutual trust between enterprises; second, the new employment model also needs to improve related supporting legal measures; third, The requirements for similarity among enterprises restrict the realization of sharing. Fourth, shared employees also have certain limitations, such as it is difficult for skilled workers to share, and general workers are relatively easy to share.
Wang Yuehong said frankly that although a good start, the further expansion of the shared employment platform still faces some practical difficulties: first, the market promotion cost is high. At present, if the company relies on its own promotion, the effort is not enough, and the company still lacks strong credibility; This new form of employment has not been universally recognized, and many large companies, including the bosses of some listed companies, are still worried about their legal status; in addition, private companies have a long investment in research and development cycle, and software platforms need to invest heavily in updating and iterating. , The enterprise is under certain pressure.
At present, although the staggered employment platform created by Wang Yuehong has achieved good social effects, it has also caused dissatisfaction with some human intermediary agencies.
"Some intermediary agencies scolded me privately, saying that I broke industry rules, and even some intermediary agency personnel threatened that if I destroy their lives, I will kill them." Wang Yuehong said, "Many companies report that there is a mixed bag. The human resources organization of China has eaten up the profits of the company, and to change all of this, the future can only rely on a more sunny network platform. I firmly believe that this new employment model has strong vitality."
"Adhere to inclusive and prudential supervision and help the development of new employment forms." The relevant person in charge of the Dongguan City Taxation Department said that in the future, the company will further analyze and sort out the social security payment and other issues that enterprises may involve under the new employment model to help both parties smoothly "share resources." .