Reducing labor costs is the self-help method of some enterprises in the epidemic situation. After negotiation, some workers said that they could accept it, but they also expressed their hearts-
Pay cuts are understandable, but do not want to be "notified"
Our reporter Li Runzhao
The epidemic has a significant impact on economic operations, and some workers face wage cuts after resuming work. Salary cuts and salary adjustments are self-help methods for some enterprises to survive in an epidemic situation. Working together to overcome difficulties is also a choice made by most enterprises and workers in the face of crisis. Some workers also worry that some companies use the "epidemic situation" as a pretext to illegally reduce their wages. In the face of salary problems during the epidemic, employees expect more "right to speak".
In April, Ai Media Consulting, a third-party data organization for mobile Internet, released the "2020 Survey Report on Enterprise Confidence and Wage Reduction Data in China's" New Crown Epidemic Period ". According to the report, 46.6% of the respondents indicated that the salary during the epidemic was higher than the top six The average monthly salary has dropped. In the face of salary cuts, more than 54.2% of the interviewed workers believe that salary adjustments can be understood and accepted through legal channels such as consultation during the epidemic. Mutual trust, mutual understanding, and overcoming difficulties have become the choice of most enterprises and workers.
However, a reporter from the Workers Daily found in an interview that some workers were concerned: some companies used the "epidemic situation" as a guise and used the crooked idea of illegal infringement when reducing pay.
Game: legally reducing costs or deliberately dumping the burden
"The epidemic has caused a great impact on the company's operation, and your company's production qualifications are incomplete. After the board of directors' research and decision, it will be suspended from production today." On April 2, Qi Feihe, 20, a worker in the woodwork factory of Bo Ruosen (Fujian) Decoration Co., Ltd. Several workers had resumed work less than a week before they received a notice of suspension from the head office. Along with this notice, there is also a notice of arrears from the landlord. Due to the company's arrears of rent, the warehouse workshop and staff quarters will be cleared one by one after the month's lease contract expires.
What puzzled Qi Fei and his coworkers was that the unqualified production qualification was a problem discovered by the head office in September 2019. Why did the board of directors make the decision to suspend production and production after six months. The workers carefully studied the terms of the notice, but found no time to resume work after the shutdown. During the shutdown period, workers can only receive less than 500 yuan of living expenses per month, and the wages owed since the Spring Festival have not fallen.
"This is withholding our wages and forcing us to go." "The company was under great pressure during the epidemic, and it needs to be operated at a low cost. Please understand." On April 15, Qi Fei represented workers at the Fuzhou High-tech Zone Labor Dispute Mediation Center. Negotiate face-to-face with the person in charge of the company's Shanghai headquarters.
Before the negotiation, Qi Fei and the workers checked the company's annual report and monthly financial statements. Enterprises have been poorly managed for a long time, and the funding gap was formed last year. In Qi Fei's view, the epidemic has become an excuse for companies to dump their burdens. Salary reduction is a tool for dismissal in disguise. "What the boss wants to save is the financial compensation."
The negotiation finally came to fruition: the enterprise accepted the resignation application of some employees and agreed to pay the economic compensation.
Zhu Baitao, a lawyer from Fujian Jinxinxin Law Firm, said that if a non-employee's own cause of work stoppage during the epidemic situation, the enterprise should pay wages in accordance with the labor contract standards or the same policy as attendance during a wage payment cycle. Living expenses pay wages, the payment amount shall not be lower than the local minimum wage standard.
Zhu Baitao reminded laborers that when signing the shutdown agreement and salary reduction agreement, they should pay attention to whether the scope and duration of the salary reduction are clearly stipulated in the document to prevent the company from "permanent salary reduction" or "superstandard salary reduction".
Worry: Will overtime pay for special working hours "evaporate"
Just after the May Day holiday, Lin Yuanjing, a worker of a protective equipment manufacturer in Xiamen, and the workers on the assembly line did not take a day off. They wear anti-static clothing in the workshop to speed up the production of protective clothing orders, the machine is non-stop 24 hours, they do not rest for 10 hours.
In March, Lin Yuanjing ’s company applied for a special working hour system to the local people ’s social affairs department. From January to April this year, Xiamen issued a total of 179 notices for approval of the special working hour system, involving 107,104 employees.
Through the implementation of a comprehensive calculation of working hours, enterprises can adjust the rest days within the year to achieve the adjustment of the production season. Taking the company where Lin Yuanjing is located as an example, the company can use the off-season adjustments for the production of the off-season in the current peak season for the production of protective equipment, and employees who work overtime and overtime can enjoy the corresponding length of paid leave during the off-season.
What worries Lin Yuanjing is that she and many of the workers in the workshop are temporary workers. The enterprise does not pay overtime wages. If she quits after a few months, she may not be able to get back the "salary money" of these overtime.
In response to Lin Yuanjing's doubts, Hu Chunfang, a lawyer from Fujian Tuowei Law Firm, called on the human resources department to strictly check the approval to prevent the irregular working system from being abused under the epidemic situation.
Hu Chunfang told the Workers Daily that when an enterprise declares an irregular working system, it needs to explain the type of work and the number of employees who plan to implement special working hours. If the position of Lin Jingyuan is indeed declared as a special working hour, and the employee refuses to implement the special working hour system, the two parties can only terminate the labor relationship.
"Implementing a special working hour system does not mean that an enterprise can require employees to work overtime without restriction." Hu Chunfang emphasized that the special working hour system is divided into an integrated working hour system and an irregular working hour system. The actual working hours within the working hours cannot exceed the legal standard working hours, that is, the daily working hours do not exceed 8 hours, and the weekly working hours do not exceed 40 hours. , Pay overtime wages not less than 150% of wages. In case of working overtime during statutory holidays such as Labor Day within a wage cycle, the enterprise shall pay wages of not less than 300% of the wages in accordance with regulations.
Hu Chunfang suggested that workers who implement the special working hour system should notify employers of the need for employees to work overtime on weekends or holidays on email, WeChat, workgroups and other platforms, and promptly retain evidence of overtime work.
Expectation: Want to fight for more "right to speak"
Qi Fei said that he had been "notified" after the company stopped production. On March 28, the company made a decision to suspend production. It was not until the day of the shutdown on April 2 that he saw a "notice" on the bulletin board at the door of the factory that he could only get living expenses.
When applying the special working hours system to the Human Resources and Social Security Department for approval, it is necessary to attach the joint comments of the employees. But Lin Yuanjing said that he had never received a request for comment from the enterprise, and asked the workers around him, and few people could clearly explain the "doorway" in the new system.
"Notified" "forced to accept" "reduced salary" ... Under the epidemic, some workers are experiencing such problems. In the interview, faced with the salary problem during the epidemic, both Qi Fei and Lin Yuanjing expressed their desire to obtain the "right to speak" and "the right to discuss".
"The salary reduction behavior of the enterprise during the epidemic is understandable. We can sit down and discuss together." Qi Fei said, "Take a salary reduction notice to deal with us, the veteran workers who have worked for more than ten years, and treat the workers as a salary reduction It's a matter of course, it's too impersonal! "
Like Qi Fei, Zhang Xin, director of marketing for a five-star hotel in Xiamen, chose to fight for "the right to speak." She did not want to be forced to wait for HR to send a "salary reduction notice", but on the first day of resumption, she actively submitted a "salary reduction agreement" drafted by herself to the general manager: voluntary salary reduction of 50%, and 5 working days a week. 3 days, 2 days off. Zhang Xin said: "Your own destiny must be in your own hands!"
"Enterprises do not seek the opinions of employees, and directly issue documents to reduce wages. There are legal risks." Huang Jiayan, a winner of the National May 1st Labor Medal and a lawyer from Fujian Jinlei Law Firm, said that if there is employee opposition, the company may directly issue documents to reduce wages. It is regarded as illegal. If the employee proposes to leave the company, the enterprise shall pay the economic compensation for the corresponding working period.
"Under the epidemic, companies are not allowed to reduce their wages." Huang Jiayan called on the issue of wages during the epidemic to introduce the democratic participation of employees, incorporate the content of collective consultation, submit it to the Workers' Congress for deliberation, and accept the democratic supervision of employees.