How to achieve the "best of both worlds" when working from home?
The situation of the new round of epidemic prevention and control is severe and complicated. In order to curb the risk of the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible, many regions advocate working from home.
On May 23, the Beijing New Crown Epidemic Prevention and Control Press Conference made regulations on further regulating home office management during the epidemic, requiring human resources departments, labor arbitration institutions, and trade unions at all levels to further increase guidance on enterprise employment management and protect workers. legitimate rights and interests, and properly resolve issues related to working hours, labor remuneration, rest and vacation, etc.
Working from home can not only save commuting time, but also flexibly arrange a day's work and life, which is a good thing for many office workers.
However, some companies unilaterally cut wages on the grounds of inconvenience in performance appraisal, some companies changed their work from "8-hour online" to "24-hour online", and some companies introduced unreasonable attendance systems... Legal issues, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of workers, and realizing the “best of both worlds” for workers at home and at work, the reporter interviewed a number of workers, company managers and relevant experts.
If the workload determination is inconsistent, can the company unilaterally reduce the salary?
On the third day of working from home, Chen Jie received a 30% salary reduction notice from the company.
Chen Jie, who is engaged in Internet marketing in Beijing, received a notice from the company to work from home in early May.
Three days later, the company issued another notice to reduce the overall salary by 30%.
Chen Jie's monthly salary is about 10,000 yuan, and after the salary cut, it will be about 7,000 yuan. She believes that her workload has not changed much from before working from home.
As a company manager, Yang Cheng believes that it is difficult to assess the working hours and working conditions of employees during home office.
Yang Cheng runs a home improvement design company in Beijing. Affected by the epidemic, the company started working from home at the end of April.
He said he would consider negotiating pay cuts with employees if the work-from-home state continues.
Workers and companies disagree on the workload of working from home.
So, can companies unilaterally reduce workers’ wages on this ground?
"Whether working from home or going to work, as long as the laborer fulfills the obligations stipulated in the labor contract, they can get the corresponding remuneration. Affected by the epidemic, the employer may encounter financial difficulties. At this time, it should negotiate with the laborer and reach an agreement through democratic procedures. After the opinion, the salary can be reduced. Otherwise, it is illegal for the employer to unilaterally reduce the salary of the laborer.” Zhang Tao, assistant judge of the Shanghai Jinshan District People’s Court, said.
Regarding the "difficulty in assessing employees working from home" mentioned by Yang Cheng, Li Huaping, legal counsel of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions and director of Shanghai Qifang Law Firm, suggested that in the case of working from home, the employer's attendance method can be more flexible. The content of the work completed by the laborer is subject to corresponding performance appraisal.
Working "online" for a long time, how to calculate overtime pay?
Zhao Yang is an insurance planner for an insurance company in Beijing.
After working from home, he gets up at 7:30 every day, washes up, and eats breakfast. After clocking in in the work group at 8:30, it is the connection between the video conference and various tasks, and he has to be busy until 8 or 9 pm before finishing work.
"I thought that working from home would be freer and looser, but I didn't expect it to be online 24 hours a day." Zhao Yang said.
One of the problems brought by "24-hour online" is "whether overtime pay can be claimed during home office and how to determine it".
Zhang Tao believes that the legal provisions on working hours do not distinguish between workplaces.
Therefore, if the employer arranges the employee to work overtime while the employee is working from home, the employee can claim overtime pay.
However, working from home is more flexible, and it is difficult to determine overtime hours. Therefore, workers should confirm with the employer in advance before working overtime.
Liu Jianbo, a lawyer from Beijing Huiyou Law Firm, said that during the home office period, both parties communicated online, and it was easier for workers to keep overtime evidence.
However, according to the survey feedback, some employers believe that during working from home, it is inevitable for workers to do housework or other private matters during working hours, and there may be inconsistencies between facts and legal evidence. clear.
Zhao Yang hopes that the company can clarify some management rules, such as the commuting time of home office, or appropriate overtime compensation according to the workload, rather than taking overtime when working from home for granted.
Snapshots and surveillance every 5 minutes, how to protect the privacy of workers?
Across the computer and mobile phone screens, many company executives or persons in charge often feel insecure - after all, employees are out of sight.
The reporter learned from interviews that recently, it is not uncommon for some companies to invent management methods to prevent employees from "fishing" during home office: "Monitoring software automatically takes screenshots every 5 minutes, and taking screenshots less than 89 times a day is considered absenteeism." Tianrang the conferencing software to be on and the camera to be turned on, not replying to work messages within 1 hour or failing to attend remote meetings on time to deal with absences on the same day" "Weekly reports changed to daily newspapers, accurate to what was done every hour"... Various online attendance systems Many workers feel conflicted.
Yang Baoquan, a senior partner at Beijing Zhongyin Law Firm, said that it is unreasonable to "monitor" employees by taking frequent snapshots without taking into account the basic physiological needs of the human body such as employees going to the bathroom, drinking tea and pouring water.
In addition, high-frequency snapshots may also violate the privacy and personal information of employees, and are suspected of breaking the law.
"Enterprises should pay attention to reasonableness, legality and reasonableness when formulating the management system of home office." Yang Baoquan suggested that the work of employees working from home can be managed through the time efficiency and quality of results completed by employees.
In addition, when formulating the assessment system for working from home, enterprises should seek the opinions of employees, or negotiate with trade unions, determine and publicize them through democratic procedures.
Guan Chendi