The executive meeting of the State Council focused on the labor security rights and interests
of
flexible employees , the rights and interests
of more than 200 million people were protected
The number of flexible employees has grown substantially-official data is that its size has exceeded 200 million, which is equivalent to nearly one-third of the European population.
Right now, the protection of the rights and interests of this group has become the focus of government work.
Recently, in less than two months, the State Council executive meeting twice focused on the protection of the rights and interests of flexible employment groups.
The executive meeting of the State Council held on May 12 clearly required the launch of a pilot program of occupational injury protection for flexible employees on the platform, a reasonable definition of platform corporate responsibilities, and exploration of mechanisms such as the purchase of commercial insurance by labor companies.
On July 7, the executive meeting of the State Council emphasized that safeguarding the labor security rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment is conducive to promoting flexible employment, increasing jobs and increasing income for the masses.
The meeting put forward a series of safeguard measures from five aspects: labor relations, labor remuneration, occupational injuries, skills training, and old-age medical security.
State Council executive meeting responds to public expectations
The "norm" is accelerating, and changes in concepts have already quietly occurred.
Lin Feng (a pseudonym), a full-time rider on a food delivery platform, said that in the past, the topics that riders gathered to chat with were mostly limited to family and income, and few people considered their own rights.
In November 2020, topics related to "incomplete social security for some of the takeaway riders interviewed" rushed to the hot search on Weibo, and the riders chatted for a long time.
Later, whenever there was news concerning the protection of their rights and interests, someone would mention it from time to time.
Just like opening a door, the rise of flexible employment has not only solved the employment of a considerable number of groups, but has also become an important channel for employment and income growth.
However, the corresponding shortcomings are becoming more and more obvious, and the legal gaps behind them have also become the fuse that triggers labor conflicts.
Flexible employment refers to the general term for various forms of employment that are different from the traditional mainstream employment methods based on industrialization and modern factory systems in one or more aspects such as working hours, labor remuneration, workplace, insurance benefits, and labor relations.
Different from traditional business units, most of them do not have fixed workplaces, fixed working hours, or even fixed-service businesses.
This makes the definition of employment behavior and the application of labor standards divergent. The lag of the labor security system has become a major problem affecting harmonious labor relations, and objectively has become a barrier that restricts the protection of the rights and interests of workers in new businesses.
Lou Yu, director of the Institute of Social Law of China University of Political Science and Law, said that since my country’s labor law is a strict "dichotomy", as long as the labor relationship is recognized, you can enjoy the protection of labor standards; but if the labor relationship is not recognized, it is a civil law. Relationship, problems can only be resolved through negotiation.
The current labor laws and regulations face great difficulties in determining whether there is an employment relationship between workers and platforms, and it is difficult for workers' rights and interests to be protected within the legal framework.
Lawyer Zhou Shihong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Revolutionary Committee, said that some platform companies evade platform corporate responsibilities through subcontracting, labor dispatch, intermediary, signing contracts with remote companies, and frequently changing companies.
He suggested that special regulations should be made on the labor relations under the new business form from the law, and the subject, object and content of the labor relationship should be reconstructed in accordance with the characteristics of the new business form of labor relations, and the rights and obligations of platform enterprises and workers should be balanced reasonably.
This year, the National Two Sessions, many proposals and proposals related to this.
The "Proposal on Strengthening the Protection of Workers' Rights and Interests in New Employment Forms" submitted by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions stated that some new business enterprises deliberately circumvent labor laws, rely on their strong positions, and use various methods to avoid direct labor relations with workers.
The National Federation of Trade Unions proposed that the legislature should improve the relevant legal system as soon as possible, define the basic concepts of labor law including labor and labor relations, and unify the understanding and application of standards in the theoretical and practical fields, and eliminate some new jobs. The practical difficulties in applying labor laws for workers in different forms.
The State Council executive meeting held on July 7 responded to the above expectations. The first measure determined at the meeting that day was to adapt to new employment patterns and promote the establishment of various forms of labor relations that are conducive to protecting the rights and interests of workers.
At the same time, enterprises are required to pay labor remuneration in full and on time, and must not set assessment indicators that harm the safety and health of workers.
Supervise and urge platform companies to formulate and improve system rules and algorithms such as order distribution and sampling ratios, listen to the opinions of labor representatives, and publicize the results.
Do not illegally restrict workers from working on multiple platforms.
It is urgent to explore the new business form of work injury insurance participation model
Su Hainan, a special researcher of the Chinese Society of Labor, said that this session of the State Council focused on the protection of workers' rights and interests under the employment situation of new types of business, and released a strong signal that the central level will issue highly targeted and realistic laws and regulations on new labor relations. , So that the rights and interests of workers under the new employment situation are legally protected.
He said that such a normative policy, while protecting the rights and interests of workers, will not make the new business economy lose its vitality. It uses institutional measures to help both enterprises and workers enjoy their respective rights and fulfill their respective obligations. , So as to promote the sustainable development of new labor relations on the road to standardization.
It takes time to build.
Insurance is the first to consider the "good prescription" to solve the problem of rights protection.
In 2020, Beijing Yilian Labor Law Aid and Research Center released the "Protection of Labor Rights and Interests of Employees in New Business Forms-Investigation Report on Occupational Injury Protection of Express Practitioners in Beijing (2019)", disclosing online ride-hailing drivers, couriers, and takeaways And other occupational injury risks encountered.
The executive meeting of the State Council made it clear that the next step is to focus on industries such as travel, food delivery, and instant delivery, and carry out a pilot program of occupational injury protection for flexible employees.
At the same time, liberalize the household registration restrictions for flexible employees to participate in basic pension and basic medical insurance in the place of employment.
This is a more pragmatic arrangement.
Zhou Guangsu, an associate professor at the School of Labor and Human Resources of Renmin University of China, believes that if the current new employment pattern is directly applied to the existing system in accordance with the labor relationship, the platform will become a super enterprise with millions of employees. This will not only cause the platform companies to be unable to support costs, but also Lead to the disappearance of the flexibility characteristics of the new employment form.
He said that considering the diversity of platform employees in terms of age, industry distribution and employment status, as well as the willingness of workers to choose the protection method, it is possible to consider the way of participating in insurance by different types of insurance.
my country's new business economy has begun to enter a new stage of standardized development.
Faced with a series of policy "combined punches" launched by the government to protect the labor rights of workers in new business formats, Lin Feng has great expectations, while some related companies are still waiting to see.
Meituan listed its current protection measures for riders, such as all riders at work have achieved 100% insurance coverage, the launch of the "rider care plan", etc., but the next step has not been disclosed.
Are you hungry for take-out platforms? Express companies such as Shentong Express and Yuantong Express did not accept interviews with reporters.
Obviously, there is still a long way to go to truly protect the rights and interests of workers in the new form of employment. Lin Feng doesn't understand the specific difficulties, and he looks forward to getting better and better.
China Youth Daily · China Youth Daily reporter Zhang Junbin Source: China Youth Daily