How many couriers do Chinese send and receive in a year?
The answer is a 12-digit number.
In December 2021, according to the monitoring data of the State Post Bureau, the 100 billionth parcel of China's express delivery year was born, and we have entered the "100 billion pieces era" of express delivery.
This year, online car-hailing completed 8.32 billion orders, and 540 million people ordered takeout.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, as of 2021, about 200 million flexible workers will support the aforementioned industries.
In addition, there are hundreds of millions of registered accounts in the online performance (live broadcast) industry, and countless online writers and freelance writers are active on various content platforms.
Flexible employment has become an important form of employment in the Chinese labor market, and the rights and interests of practitioners should be protected by law.
Behind the big data is the struggle of a specific person.
Pi Jianlong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of Beijing Jintai Law Firm, who has been following this group, saw that in the past two years, the rights and interests of flexible employees have been guaranteed to a certain extent, but "there is still a fundamental problem about flexible employment that has not been resolved. , that is, the identities of these new format workers have not been confirmed.”
On March 5, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council proposed in his government work report to "improve the social security policy for flexible employment and carry out pilot projects for new employment forms of occupational injury protection".
"Three Nos" and "Three Difficulties"
Among the samples surveyed by Pi Jianlong, only 43% of the practitioners signed a labor contract with the platform or a third-party labor dispatch company, 29% of the practitioners signed a labor agreement, and 21% of the practitioners did not sign any form of contract or protocol.
Pi Jianlong pointed out that at present, platform companies and various "giants" adopting flexible employment have a certain monopoly.
Flexible employment personnel face the "trilemma", that is, it is difficult to negotiate on an equal footing with platform companies or outsourcing companies, it is difficult to fight them on an equal footing, and it is difficult to fight for legal rights.
In order to avoid legal responsibilities and reduce costs, some platform companies often do not sign written labor contracts with practitioners, or replace them with other forms of contracts such as labor contracts and contracts.
In this way, these workers are often in a situation of lack of social security.
During the survey, Chai Shining, a deputy to the National People's Congress, found that many outsourcing companies will reduce operating costs by paying social security in different places, or guide practitioners to give up social security by "discounting" at low prices.
In fact, many people who are not highly educated in flexible employment do not have enough awareness of the importance of social security, and "think that a little more money will do."
"I have worked in the same place for 2 years, and I seem to be still a temporary worker." During the investigation, Chai Huan heard a courier brother say that his labor dispatch company did not pay him social security in Shanghai, which made him unable to apply for it. With a temporary residence permit, the child can only be sent back to his hometown to go to school.
It is also difficult for ordinary labor dispatchers to enjoy the benefits of subsidized housing, medical treatment, and education at the workplace, not to mention those "three noes" who "have no labor contract, no social insurance, and no social security."
"The law can't support them." Pi Stegosaurus said.
"Quick run", "Quick delivery", "Quick pick up"... This is what consumers expect from flexible workers.
At the same time, in order to get the rewards given by the algorithm system and be less punished, these "riders" and "little brothers" must also strive to complete more orders per unit time.
The pursuit of speed often exposes them to the risk of traffic accidents, and even becomes a hidden danger to traffic safety themselves.
Running a red light, going the wrong way, speeding... Once an accident occurs, they are likely to fall into the dilemma of rights protection.
"Only when problems really arise, do they realize how difficult it is to defend their rights." Chai Shining found that in this field, the phenomenon of "one package", "layers of subcontracting" or "layers of subcontracting" is not uncommon. , which not only caused the income of some flexible workers to be "skinned", but also "don't know who to call for responsibility" when they encounter problems.
to take into account the future of this group
Chai Shining is more concerned about another issue - where is the future for flexible workers.
Going to the city, choosing a platform or an outsourcing company, becoming a courier, takeaway driver, car-hailing driver... This is the career choice of many rural youths. For them who are in a period of employment confusion, these flexible employment opportunities The industry threshold is not high, the income is acceptable, and the entry and exit are free.
Chai Shun saw that in this group, many people have been in a state of overloaded labor for a long time, often working more than 10 hours a day and working overtime on holidays, but they cannot get overtime compensation.
In this regard, Zhu Lieyu, a representative of the National People's Congress, called for approval of the labor intensity of food delivery workers in an interview with the media.
With reference to the economic subsidies and sabbatical leave that some heavy-duty workers have, food delivery workers also "should have general standards in this industry."
More importantly, some companies do not develop training plans for them, they are exhausted and have no time for self-improvement.
"After they are outsourced layer by layer, no unit or subject of responsibility will train them." Chai Shining said, especially some young people in their 20s, will miss the golden period of learning.
Another finding of Chai Yun is that "the channels for high-quality employment brought by outsourcing have narrowed."
At present, in order to reduce labor costs, many employers have gradually begun to narrow or close traditional recruitment channels, and more flexible employment methods have been adopted. This has led to a relative increase in labor costs for law-abiding companies that protect labor rights and interests by referring to labor relations. Competition in the industry It is in a disadvantageous position in China, and it has gradually started or considered outsourcing some businesses, which has caused the phenomenon of bad money driving out good money to a certain extent.
need to legally confirm their identity
To protect the rights and interests of flexible employees, we must first be able to identify their identities in accordance with the law.
Pi Jianlong suggested that my country's labor law should be revised as soon as possible to make up for the shortcomings of labor legislation, and a special chapter should be made on the "protection of workers' rights and interests in new formats". Scope.
He also said that the labor law should give workers in new formats basic labor rights in terms of equal employment, minimum wages, working hours and rest periods, basic pension insurance and medical insurance.
"These people basically work in one place for a long time, but they can't enjoy the benefits of the city. How can they integrate into the city in the long run?" Chai Huan also suggested that the establishment and coverage of territorial trade unions and trade unions should be increased. We will make efforts to recruit outsourced workers, dispatch workers, and flexible employment workers outside the trade union of enterprises to join the trade union in a timely manner, and clarify the trade union expenditure responsibilities of the common employers.
In the form of industry employee representatives, negotiate on workers' rest and vacation, vocational training, remuneration and welfare, labor protection, etc.; conclude collective contracts, adopt collective negotiation methods, urge and guide business contractors and contractors to consciously safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of laborers, Really allow workers whose main source of living is wage income to enjoy the due treatment of workers in the actual workplace, such as urban benefits excluded from social security in other places, and due income from work on statutory holidays.
In response to the difficulty in safeguarding the rights of flexible workers, Chai Shining also suggested that to improve the industry market access qualification review requirements for companies operating outsourcing businesses, it is necessary to protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers as a starting point, and strictly improve the enterprise administrative licensing of outsourcing human resources companies. ; At the same time, clarify the responsibilities of labor relations, incomplete labor relations, and flexible employment "under the three-point relationship". It is recommended to clarify the incomplete labor relations responsibilities of the contracting party of outsourcing flexible employment. When the party responsible for the dispute is unable to effectively perform the compensation, the source shall make the bottom line and then recover the compensation from the faulty party.
He also suggested that the industry supervision department and labor inspection department should take the initiative to increase labor security supervision and law enforcement, and regard the protection of labor rights and interests in the area of responsibility as one of the important assessment indicators.
This year's two sessions, Chai Shining called for in his "Suggestions on Further Regulating Outsourcing Flexible Employment Models to Improve Employment Quality" to "improve labor outsourcing regulations and unblock channels for this group to safeguard their rights and resolve disputes."
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Zhao Limei Source: China Youth Daily