Recently, a company release letter asking female employees to voluntarily leave the company if they become pregnant has attracted attention online.
The letter of commitment reads: "I solemnly promise that once I become pregnant while working in the company, I will voluntarily resign and give up any economic compensation and related legal responsibilities of the unit." The media reporter contacted the female employee who posted the post, and she affirmed that this was the case. The letter of commitment is true, but he refused to give more details because he "has not left the job and is inconvenient to be interviewed".
Even if the female employee signs the letter of commitment, the letter of commitment is invalid. If the company dismisses the pregnant female employee, it will assume relevant legal responsibilities and compensate the female employee.
For this type of gender discrimination, the regulatory authorities should seriously investigate and deal with it, promote fair employment, and safeguard the legal rights of women.
However, it should be noted that to build a birth-friendly society, government departments cannot just issue policies and implement supervision according to policies without giving money.
This will lead to the failure of supervision, and some companies will not recruit women when recruiting from their own operations, or "internally implement" policies that are not friendly to women, forcing female employees to "retreat".
For gender discrimination in the workplace, some companies argue that this is not discrimination against women, but "forced by reality".
Women want to get pregnant and have children, especially after the opening of the three-child policy, companies need to pay higher costs for women to take maternity leave, and there will also be problems in staffing and management of female workers who are pregnant and have children.
Running a business is not about charity. Reducing the recruitment and use of female workers is beneficial to the operation of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises that are still developing.
Gender discrimination in the workplace is also highly concealed. There are not many companies that publicly discriminate like the above. More companies discriminate against women because their abilities do not meet the recruitment requirements of their units and are not hired, and Women's ability is not strong, the job assessment is not enough, and they are downgraded and reduced in salary.
In order to protect women's equal employment rights and promote fertility, China has issued a series of policies.
However, this is called "the state treats guests, and the company pays the bill". When it is implemented, it needs the company to pay, which obviously depends on the company's operating strength and social responsibility awareness.
Enterprises and units that implement policies better are mainly party and government organs and institutions that pay the bills, as well as some large enterprises and state-owned enterprises with good operating conditions. These are also the enterprises and units sought after by job seekers.
Implementing the birth-friendly policy requires the state to provide both policy and money.
Specifically, if the burden of childbearing is reduced and women’s maternity leave is extended, the appropriate method is for the government to pay a certain amount of maternity subsidies; to reduce the burden of parenting, the appropriate method is to develop inclusive and even free childcare and preschool education; to reduce the burden of education, the Effectively develop high-quality and balanced compulsory education, and gradually include high school in the category of free or compulsory education.
Not long ago, Yang Hui, deputy director of the Policy and Regulations Research Office of the Women's Research Institute of the All-China Women's Federation, proposed at a forum that companies should bear the cost of parental leave for each male and female employee with a child under the age of 3/6. The national average is 17,200 yuan. Chongqing The highest in Beijing, the lowest in Beijing, and the corresponding costs for the second and third children are higher.
This intuitively shows the cost that enterprises need to pay for parental leave, and also reveals the practical dilemma of implementing parental leave and protecting women's rights and interests.
Ensuring equal employment for women is the legal responsibility and bottom-line responsibility of enterprises.
However, the cost that the enterprise needs to bear to fulfill its legal responsibility cannot be ignored. If the cost exceeds the enterprise's ability to bear, then the enterprise will do everything possible not to implement it, or the implementation will affect the business vitality of the enterprise, which is ultimately not conducive to employees. Rights protection.
At present, combined with the actual national conditions of our country, it is necessary to establish a cost-sharing mechanism in which individuals, enterprises and the government share the cost of childcare, so as to reduce the burden on families and enterprises.
For example, Yang Fan, a researcher at the Population and Development Research Center of Renmin University of China, suggested in an interview with the media that the economic cost of parental leave should be borne by the mutual fund jointly paid by enterprises and individuals, and the government will provide different levels of subsidies depending on changes in stages and policy orientation.
This suggestion is practical.
In the long run, to build a fertility-friendly society, the government needs to play a leading role in reducing the burden of fertility, parenting, and education, and assume the main responsibility.
Xiong Bingqi Source: China Youth Daily