Chinanews client, Beijing, June 19 (Peng Ningling) Many workplace whites have had the experience of being "frustrated" by their seniors: inquiring about wages among colleagues is a taboo in the workplace.

  Recently, the "secret salary system" has been hotly searched on the Internet.

  Some people questioned, what is the mystery of wage gods?

Is the company's salary confidentiality system well-founded by law?

Data map: Job seekers are looking for jobs at the venue.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Wu Junjie

"Inquiry about colleague's salary was fired" on the hot search

  Recently, "inquiry about colleague's salary was expelled" has been on the topic list.

A netizen posted on Weibo saying that he worked in an Internet company and worked more overtime this month and received a lot of salary. Because a colleague worked similarly to his overtime, he asked the other party how much.

  The netizen said that he was a colleague who asked publicly in the office at the time, and the colleague did not answer directly, but the next day, the manpower found him to talk about the dismissal, and the compensation was paid normally.

Netizens feel wronged: Isn't this a shameful thing, as to expel me?

  Regarding the dismissal of wages, this is not the first time it has happened.

Similar cases have been exposed before, and the topics of "should the wages of colleagues be made public" and "will you inquire about the wages of colleagues" have caused many discussions.

  Many interviewees also told Chinanews.com that it is not uncommon for units to require salary confidentiality, including writing into labor contracts, confidentiality agreements, and verbal instructions from superiors at the time of entry.

  However, the topic of "inquiry about salary being expelled" is still on the hot search.

It's just about the salary. As for the expulsion?

  From the standpoint of an enterprise, Zhou Fei, who has been engaged in human resources work in Beijing for many years, said, “The secret salary system is due to differences in employees’ personal abilities, academic qualifications, and other aspects. Companies will pay higher salaries to high-capacity and high-potential employees. Inquiring about each other's salary will affect the average level of employees, which is not conducive to the unity of the company."

  "For companies, strict discipline is to facilitate management and save management costs."

  Zhou Fei said that his company will set the salary as a company secret and write it into the labor contract, and list it as a situation of dissolution of the labor contract, and explain it at the new employee training meeting. In addition, there are video recordings, employees participating in signing, and after the meeting. Exams to prove that employees are informed.

  Zhou Fei had seen employees who were expelled for violating salary confidentiality regulations and the employees went to the labor arbitration committee for arbitration, but because "there was evidence that she knew that the salary was a corporate secret and should not inquire about each other", the arbitration committee did not support her request.

  In addition to internal unity considerations, Sun Xin, who works as a human resource manager in a company in Chongqing, believes that companies in the same industry will have healthy competition. Salary is also a type of confidentiality. If it is maliciously leaked to peers and violates the confidentiality agreement, it can be expelled.

  Whether it is the opinions of netizens or the interviewees in reality, many people believe that requiring salary confidentiality can protect privacy. In addition, since the agreement has been signed, the employees should be abided by the prior knowledge.

However, some people think that "just ask about wages and give a warning. It seems too much to be expelled directly."

  Sun Xin also disagrees with the direct expulsion of employees for inquiring about salary in private.

"If an employee has no intention of malicious disclosure, but pure curiosity, direct expulsion is a waste of recruitment costs and is detrimental to the image of the entire company."

  The business department of Sun Xin's company implements a salary transparency system. "Everyone can see how much everyone has done. We hope that people with low wages will be motivated when they see other people's high wages, rather than secretly suspicion."

Data map: On April 2, job seekers (left) talked with labor companies in the human resources market in Shunyi District, Beijing.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Jia Tianyong

The secret pay system violates

"equal pay for equal work"?

  In addition to questioning the excessive punishment of expulsion, some netizens also questioned: The salary difference between oneself and colleagues in the same position cannot be known if the salary is not transparent, which is contrary to the "equal pay for equal work" stipulated in the labor law.

  my country’s labor law clearly stipulates that wage distribution should follow the principle of distribution according to work and implement equal pay for equal work.

  Earlier, some media reported a case in which an employee was expelled for inquiring about wages. The court held that although the labor law did not expressly stipulate whether the employee’s income should be disclosed, the company’s rules and regulations of “implementing confidentiality of employees’ personal income” did not The labor law contradicts the provisions of equal pay for equal work.

  As a result, the court held that the company’s actions constituted an illegal termination of the labor relationship and ordered the company to pay economic compensation to the expelled employees.

  From a legal perspective, more than one lawyer told Chinanews.com that there are indeed principled provisions on equal pay for equal work in the labor law, but equal pay for equal work and wages are "back-to-back" and do not necessarily conflict.

  "Equal pay for equal work is not the same as absolute equal pay for the same job."

  An Xiang, director of Beijing Dexiang Law Firm and deputy director of the Civil Law Committee of Beijing Bar Association, said that each employee has differences in education, ability, etc., and employers can create value for the company based on the labor skills of each employee. , Combined with the unit’s production and operation characteristics and economic benefits, independently determine the wage distribution method and wage level within the legal scope.

  Chinanews.com also found through searching the China Judgment Documents website that some effective judgments clearly show that equal pay for equal work means that the employer shall pay the same labor remuneration for the same work, the same amount of labor and the same performance.

This distribution principle is relative.

  Experts believe that in practice, due to differences in the specific details of the case, as well as different jurisdictions and levels of courts, different judgments may also occur in the same case.

Data map: July 4, 2020, Taiyuan, Shanxi, job seekers looking for jobs at the venue.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Wu Junjie

  Regarding the company’s agreement with employees on salary confidentiality, An Xiang believes that there is no law prohibiting this agreement. “Employers have the right to stipulate corresponding clauses in labor contracts or rules and regulations. The confidential salary system itself is not illegal.”

  At the same time, the lawyer stated that it is a serious violation of discipline to only verbally inform the worker to inquire about the salary, and to terminate the contract on this ground is not in compliance with the relevant provisions of the law.

An Xiang said that relevant rules and regulations should meet three standards: they should be formulated in accordance with democratic procedures, they should not violate laws and regulations, and they should be notified to workers in accordance with the law.

  "If these three conditions are met, or there are such content in the agreement, such as the confidentiality agreement and the labor contract, then the agreement itself is valid. It is legal to deal with employees on this basis, and real cases also support it. Such a standard." An Xiang said.

(Finish)