Suspend the payment of wages to employees, the company "disguised layoffs"?

Author 丨Du Qiaomei

Editor 丨 Zhang Ruosi

Figure Source 丨 Figure worm

"We're now paying off."

On the evening of December 20, a Renault Brilliance Jinbei employee broke the news to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter.

According to the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup employee, the company's information about the day's meeting showed:

"From December 20, wages have been suspended; various insurance and provident fund payments have been suspended (only medical insurance payments); this year's heating fees have been put on the agenda, and reimbursement or not is waiting for the specific results." Convey to each employee, solicit opinions, employees with individual difficulties, submit applications, sort out and report! ”

"We haven't been able to return to work, and suddenly we were notified that we wouldn't pay any more. The main thing is to let us apply for resignation ourselves. The above employee told reporters.

According to the employee, at present, the company can handle voluntary resignation, the processing time is basically 1-2 days to complete the termination of the labor contract, some people need physical examination, the departing employees must first communicate with the class leader to complete the handover of work in the workshop. Arrears of provident fund and insurance involve supplementary payment, and will be handled uniformly in the future.

However, the reason for the sudden suspension of wages, the above-mentioned employees said it was not clear.

"The notices were issued layer by layer, saying that the company had no money and was difficult to operate." The above-mentioned employee told reporters, "The Haishi model can obviously be produced, and the dealers are also selling normally, but the company will not let us resume work, and now it has begun to stop paying wages." ”

In fact, this is not the first time that the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup has been caught in the "layoff" storm.

As early as last July, when Renault Brilliance released its transformation plan, it encouraged willing employees to start businesses and introduced a marketing partnership system; provided skills training and employment coaching to employees, helped employees formulate new career development plans, and sought new development opportunities within and outside the organization; at the same time, the company will also provide flexible retirement and compensation policies. According to informed sources, according to the plan at that time, by the end of April this year, Renault Brilliance will optimize 650 employees, accounting for about 20% of the current Shenyang factory employees.

At the end of November 2020, an insider of Renault Brilliance told reporters that Renault Brilliance will carry out the fourth layoff, laying off about 1200 employees through a buyout.

In fact, as early as 2020, the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup was facing the dilemma of cash flow depletion. Although the joint venture received a capital injection of 600 million yuan from both shareholders, insiders said that the funds are not expected to support a year's consumption, and the 600 million yuan is likely to be the "last capital injection" of the shareholders.

In September this year, foreign media reported that Renault planned to end its joint venture with Brilliance and withdraw from the Chinese commercial vehicle market.

However, this news was denied by the Renault employee at the time, "the salary is still paid as usual, and there is no knowledge of the renault divestment." ”

It is understood that the predecessor of Renault Brilliance Jinbei automobile Co., Ltd. is Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automobile Co., Ltd., the Jinbei brand was born in 1989, which is the only commercial vehicle brand in China that represents a category with a brand name. In 2010, the number of Jinbei buses exceeded 1 million, becoming the first brand of light passengers in China, reaching 75% at the highest market share in this segment, ranking first in China's commercial vehicle market for 19 consecutive years.

In December 2017, Brilliance Automotive and Renault Group established a joint venture company of Renault Brilliance in accordance with a 51%:49% equity distribution, which mainly produces three types of models: car-oriented vehicles, new energy commercial vehicles and personalized modified commercial vehicles.

According to the official plan, by 2023, 5 core competitive models will be launched, and it will also enter the electric light passenger market, and by 2025, the proportion of mid-size vans in the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup will reach 15%.

However, since the establishment of the joint venture company, the introduction of new products in the Renault Brilliance Golden Cup has been slow, and the project introduced by Renault models has been delayed again and again, and it was not until November last year that a redesigned model was launched.

According to the data, the sales volume of the Renault Brilliance Gold Cup in 2020 was 23,000 units, a year-on-year decline of 42.8%. Saic Motor Maxus's annual sales volume was 14,700 units, a sharp increase of 17.16% year-on-year; Ford Transit's annual sales were nearly 52,000 units, an increase of 33.5% year-on-year.

In the past two years, in the face of rapid adjustment of the market structure, in April 2020, Dongfeng Renault, which is difficult to adapt to the development of the Chinese automobile market, has withdrawn from the Chinese passenger car market; in the future, whether Renault will focus on the electric vehicle market and withdraw from the Chinese commercial vehicle market, this reporter will continue to pay attention.

Editor of this issue Liu Xiang Intern Lin Xiying