[Who should "pay the bill" for the safety of workers' heads ②] Some companies force a deposit for safety helmets, and they cannot go to work if they don’t pay.

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  Some engineering, manufacturing industries and labor-intensive enterprises force employees to pay deposits for labor insurance supplies when entering employment.

Without paying a deposit, workers will not only be unable to receive labor insurance products such as hard hats, but also face the risk of difficulty in entering the job.

The lawyer said that it is the unshirkable responsibility of enterprises to provide or replace damaged labor insurance supplies for employees for free.

  "Hard hat 30 yuan, labor insurance shoes 70 yuan, labor insurance clothing 100 yuan, a total of 200 yuan." Chen Jiaxin, an operation technician of Longyan Shengfeng Machinery Manufacturing Company in Fujian Province, has kept a deposit slip issued by the company's financial department.

During the six years of working in the factory, every time he put on labor protection supplies, he always muttered in his heart: "Why do you have to pay a deposit if you are wearing a helmet?"

  The deposit slip was transcribed with two pieces of A4 paper sandwiched with carbon paper. Chen Jiaxin kept a copy of the carbon copy, and the handwriting on the paper was a little fuzzy.

When he joined the company that year, the person in charge of the personnel department of the factory clearly told him and the same batch of workers that the labor insurance product deposit can be returned after working for 3 years, and the deposit is not refundable for employees who have left the job for less than 3 years.

  Zhao Peng, a worker from a construction company in Fuzhou, was forced to pay a deposit for labor insurance supplies when entering the job.

He showed the reporter the "Management Measures for Issuing and Using Safety Helmets" formulated by this company.

The method states that the demand plan for helmets shall be prepared by the employing department; the company's financial affairs shall be responsible for collecting a deposit of 200 yuan per cap, and the applicant shall sign and confirm to collect the helmets at the material warehouse; employees who have not paid the deposit shall not Entering the construction site; before leaving the site after the construction, the employer should return the helmet to the material warehouse, and go to the finance department to go through the deposit refund procedure with the certificate of the helmet return.

  The company’s document also stipulates that when a helmet is used, the staff shall register the helmet number and carefully check the number when returning it. If the number does not match, the deposit will not be returned.

  Zhao Peng sighed: "Why is it so difficult for companies to give a helmet unconditionally?"

  The reporter's investigation found that there are not a few laborers who have been charged for safety helmet deposits.

There are many manufacturing companies around the machinery factory where Chen Jiaxin works. He told reporters that it is a common practice for many companies to collect deposits for labor insurance products.

Zhao Peng has also seen online that many companies have issued regulations on the use of helmets and explicitly charge a deposit for helmets.

  In the view of Hu Chunfang, a lawyer at Fujian Tuowei Law Firm, these are violations of the law.

The Labor Contract Law stipulates that when employing laborers, employers shall not require laborers to provide guarantees or collect property from laborers in other names.

She said that the management of the distribution of labor protection products should adhere to the principle of "who hires the workers, who is responsible" and distribute them free of charge in accordance with national regulations.

Collecting or collecting hard hat deposits in disguised form violates the legitimate rights and interests of workers.

  "Don't look at a hard hat is not much money, it is a big expense when the number increases. The reason why companies do this, in the final analysis, is for the company's own sense of security!" Fujian Si, who has many years of experience in the industry Li Fang, the recruiter of One Human Resources Management Co., Ltd., told reporters that most of the companies that choose to allow employees to pay hard hat deposits are engineering, manufacturing, and labor-intensive companies.

  Li Fang revealed that these companies have high demand for labor and strong employee mobility. The companies one-sidedly believe that allowing employees to pay labor insurance product deposits can reduce labor costs. At the same time, the refund conditions of the helmet deposits are linked to the employees' working years in the company. , Which helps stabilize the workforce and reduce the turnover rate.

  "The collection of deposits for labor insurance supplies for employees actually allows employees to'pay the bill' for the company to reduce costs." Li Fang said frankly that most of the workers will choose to pay deposits when faced with employment pressure, and few people are deeply concerned about the legality of the deposit.

  After Chen Jiaxin worked in this machinery company for three years, what he waited for was not the refund of the deposit, but the news of the company's bankruptcy.

He sighed: "If it weren't for recovering the economic compensation, who would have filed a lawsuit against the company for the 200 yuan labor insurance product deposit?"

  Since last year, Zhu Botao, a lawyer from Fujian Jinerxin Law Firm, has received three legal consultations that cannot be returned after employees have paid deposits for labor insurance products.

He introduced that the reasons why the company did not refund the deposit included damaged helmets, inconsistent serial numbers when receiving and returning them, etc. "But because the amount of the deposit is not high, most employees did not have the'below' after consulting."

  "It is the unshirkable responsibility of enterprises to provide or replace damaged labor insurance supplies for employees that have reached the expiration date for free." Zhu Botao believes that companies are trying to stabilize the workforce by forcing employees to pay deposits for helmets, but they have caused confusion and confusion for employees. Uneasy, the result is often counterproductive.

"As far as the production safety responsibility is supposed to be undertaken, enterprises cannot'conditions'." He affirmed.

  (Some interviewees have pseudonyms)

Li Runzhao

Li Runzhao