After the employee complains to the unit, he is "given a long vacation" to the court: the employee can claim economic compensation

Source: Workers Daily

Employees are "given a long vacation" after complaining to the unit

The court pointed out that the employer deliberately terminated the labor contract and the notice of the holiday was "skillful" to avoid obligations

The employer is forced to terminate the labor contract on the grounds of "taking a long vacation," and the employee can claim economic compensation. A few days ago, the Wuzhong District People's Court of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, heard the labor dispute.

Cui mou is an employee of a knitting company, has been employed for more than 10 years, works in the production line, and has a monthly income of more than 7,000 yuan. One day in 2020, Cui went to the relevant government departments to consult the provident fund and social security payment base and complained that the company had paid insufficiently, and received a written notice from the knitting company. The knitting company asked Cui to take a 3-month break on the grounds that the epidemic had affected the number of orders received and Cui's older age, and promised to pay a minimum wage every month, and when it resumed after that depended on the company's operating conditions. Cui raised objections to this and asked to work normally, but the company required Cui to sign a written statement, making it clear that there was no objection to the company's social security and provident fund, and that the company would not pursue any responsibility in the future, etc., and the company would withdraw the holiday notice and Cui could work normally. Cui mou believes that the content of the statement is inconsistent with the facts and refuses to sign.

After the communication was hopeless, Cui issued a notice of termination of the labor contract on the grounds that the company's holiday notice seriously damaged his legitimate rights and interests, and asked the company to pay economic compensation. The knitting company did not agree to pay the economic compensation, and eventually Cui sued the Wuzhong court for the economic compensation.

After the trial, the court held that after Cui went to the social security department to understand and reflect the problem of the provident fund and social security payment base, the knitting company, as an employer, sent a notice of three months' leave to the employee. Although the notice contains the monthly payment of labor remuneration to the employee according to the minimum wage standard, but the wage standard and the employee's previous monthly income level is very different, after the employee raises objections to the holiday and requests to work normally, the employer clarifies that only if the employee withdraws the complaint and makes a commitment, it will withdraw the notice of leave and allow the employee to work, the above behavior has clearly stated that the employer is unwilling to continue to perform the labor contract, the intention to deliberately terminate the labor contract is obvious, and the notice of the holiday is only a "skilled" way of handling. It is an act of circumventing the obligations of the employer, and the above-mentioned acts of the employer should be regarded as the act of refusing to provide working conditions. According to Article 38 of the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, if the employer fails to provide labor protection or working conditions in accordance with the labor contract, the employee may terminate the labor contract; Article 46 of the Law stipulates that if the employee terminates the labor contract in accordance with article 38 of this Law, the employer shall pay economic compensation to the employee. In summary, the court ordered the employer to pay the employee 14,500 yuan in economic compensation. The knitting company appealed against the first-instance judgment, and the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.

The judge pointed out that both employers and employees should abide by the principle of good faith when performing their labor contracts. In the face of employees' complaints, employers should first self-examine and self-correct, rectify illegal and non-compliant behaviors in accordance with the law, put an end to abuse of management authority, and use so-called "skills" to force employees to leave their jobs in disguise, infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of employees.