Text/Liu Yuting
(The author Ishiola Liu Yuting, special commentator of Litchi News, legal scholar; this article is an exclusive draft of Litchi News Client and Litchi Network, please indicate the source when reprinting.) ）
It is also a dispute over the recognition of work injuries that has attracted much public attention.
In 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, the Natural Resources Bureau of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, implemented a flexible working system in June. On the morning of June 18, 2020, employee Chai Yuan was killed by Jin Mou, a criminal suspect who fled to the Longfeng Town community, while working from home. His family applied for the recognition of work injury, but the Heilongjiang Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department and the Daqing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau believed that "Chai Yuan's murder was not causally related to the performance of her work duties", and both made a decision not to recognize the work injury. Chai Yuan's family then took the above department to court. After the court's first-instance judgment, it was decided to revoke the decision made by the Heilongjiang Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department and the Daqing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau not to recognize the work injury, and the Daqing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau recently re-identified Chai Yuan as a work injury.
The previous decision of the department of human resources and social security not to recognize the work injury should be based on the following provisions in the Regulations on Work Injury Insurance: The employee has "accidental injuries such as violence due to the performance of work duties during working hours and in the workplace" and is recognized as a work injury. Considering that Chai Yuan did not go to work at the time of the crime, she did not have the necessary conditions in time and space, so it brought certain difficulties to the identification of work injuries in actual work.
However, specific issues should also be analysed on a case-by-case basis. It is true that Chai Yuan is at home, but due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the unit implements a flexible working system, and in this special situation, it should not be stuck to the regular working time and place, and working from home should also be equivalent to official work. According to the relevant opinions of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, "employees who are stationed abroad for work reasons have a fixed residence and a clear work and rest time, and when the work injury is determined, it is handled in accordance with the situation of normal work in the local area where they are stationed", which also shows that the flexible working system meets the requirements.
In the case of this work injury determination dispute, the key point is whether it is "personal injury in the performance of work duties". During the epidemic period, Chai Yuan worked and worked at home, and there was no shortage of strong proof. For example, the information in Chai Yuan's mobile phone and computer confirmed that "she was still doing a week's work summary that day, and the work responsible for contacting and coordinating experts", "8:02, 10:27 and 11:00 before the disappearance", "sent to 3 colleagues in the unit through the mobile phone "Weekly Work Summary of the Compilation and Research Center" and other materials", after which she was controlled and killed by the murderer. It can be said that Chai Yuan's murder is directly related to the performance of work duties and the reduction of vigilance against crime.
From the perspective of the spirit of the legislation, the recognition of work injuries for slain workers working from home is also in line with the trend of protecting the rights and interests of workers. The purpose of formulating the Regulations on Work-related Injury Insurance is to "ensure that employees who have suffered from accidents or occupational diseases due to work can obtain medical treatment and economic compensation, and to promote the prevention of work injuries and vocational rehabilitation", based on "protecting the rights and interests of workers". According to a number of judicial interpretations issued by the SPC, as long as it is "related to the performance of work duties, injury during working hours and within a reasonable area", it should be supported by the court. The "expansion" of administrative regulations by judicial interpretations also stems from the grasp and adherence to the spirit of the above legislation.
Not only that, in judicial practice, the "workplace" specified in the Regulations on Work-related Injury Insurance is often understood in a broad sense, rather than limited to "the office space of the unit where the workplace is located". In February last year, Liu Wenxiong, a doctor at the Sanfutan Town Health Center in Xiantao City, Hubei Province, died suddenly at home, and at first, the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau made a decision not to recognize the work injury. However, at that time, during the tense period of epidemic prevention and control, he received a total of 3181 patients in the month before his death, and his illness was delayed due to the epidemic prevention task. In the end, the local social security bureau made a new decision: Liu Wenxiong died of a sudden illness in the process of epidemic prevention and preparation, which was ineffective and rescued, and was recognized as a work injury.
To protect workers, the rule of law should be eclectic and keep pace with the times. Under the background of the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, with the popularization of emerging technologies such as remote work, working from home will also become a social habit. This boiling dispute over the recognition of work injuries highlights the real problems that the new work model of working from home may encounter. The rights and interests of workers who work from home and contribute to society should not be placed outside the protection of the law. From legislation to the judiciary and administration, breaking the inertia of mechanical operation and improving the rights and interests protection mechanism can we truly solve the worries of workers and give them the greatest goodwill and warmest support.