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Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, some enterprises are facing tremendous pressure to revitalize production after resuming work and production. In this case, some workers said that after returning to work, their rest and vacation time has become less, and overtime has become more.
Experts said that enterprises can arrange overtime work in consultation with workers, but on the one hand, they cannot exceed the statutory bottom line of overtime work, and on the other hand, they should also pay workers overtime wages in full. In addition, employers can also balance the relationship between workers' rest and leave and promote the production of enterprises through systems such as the transfer of compensatory leave.
Every weekend was "cut" off a rest day
As the epidemic prevention and control situation continues to improve, all walks of life have resumed work, workers have switched from the "home" mode at home to the "busy" mode on the job, and some workers said that they need to work overtime on weekends, overtime work on weekdays to catch up with progress, and paid annual leave is deducted.
"After returning to work, the rest time is reduced." Ms. Li of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, is an employee of a company that has required employees to work every Saturday since resuming work on Feb. 14 until the end of June. "Suddenly canceling Saturday, feeling tired and still needing some time to get used to." Ms. Lee said.
Like Ms. Li, there are not many workers who change from two days off to single rest. Many netizens posted that their weekends were "cut" off a day, and the company "suddenly sent a notice" through email, WeChat and other means, informing them that they needed to work on Saturdays for several consecutive weeks.
The "Workers Daily" reporter learned in the investigation that in addition to weekends and statutory holidays, workers pay more attention to paid annual leave. After the resumption of work, some workers said that this year's annual leave was deducted by the holiday during the delayed resumption of work, and some workers said that although the company has not yet made it clear that it wants to "move" the annual leave, it is still worried that it will be rejected when it takes leave in the second half of the year.
The data also shows that the paid annual leave system is not fully implemented in some enterprises. Previously, a survey by the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed that 40.1% of the respondents said that they "did not have paid annual leave", 4.1% "had paid annual leave, but could not take it", and 18.8% "had paid annual leave, you can take a vacation, but you can't arrange it yourself".
Ms. Zhang, who works at a company in Beijing, said that after resuming work, the company "used her brain" on rest and vacation, "At first, we were allowed to use paid annual leave to deduct, and then forced rotation, which felt like a disguised salary cut." ”
Balance between pro-production and rest
"Recently, I have been working overtime on weekends, and if I want to catch up with the goods, overtime will be paid separately." On April 27, Wang Yumin, who runs a small factory in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, told Workers Daily. On February 23, the factory officially resumed work after going through the approval process and inviting workers. Wang Yumin, who has been worried about whether his small business can "survive", finally let go of a hanging heart, and the factory is also full of horsepower and full capacity.
Affected by the epidemic, some enterprises have been greatly affected in the short term. "Some enterprises cannot produce normally in the first quarter of this year, and there may be an accumulation of production cost pass-through pressure and a backlog of production tasks, resulting in overtime and reduced vacations after the resumption of work." Shen Jianfeng, a professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics and dean of the Law School of the China Institute of Labor Relations, said in an interview with the Workers Daily reporter.
Shen Jianfeng pointed out that enterprises have not fully communicated with employees on matters such as early leave and transfer of leave, and the rules of the current law on labor relations in special circumstances such as the new crown pneumonia epidemic are not perfect, which can easily lead to labor disputes.
Excessive overtime has many potential risks such as easily triggering labor disputes and affecting the physical and mental health of workers. According to media reports, on March 19, Xiao Liang, who is engaged in the IT industry, went to the fever clinic of the Sandun Branch of Zhejiang Hospital for medical treatment due to symptoms such as high fever and did not return, and was found to have a large area of "white lung" and multiple organ failure, because after resuming work, he still worked more than 10 hours a day in a fever state.
"It's not easy to find a job, it's hard to cherish; it's hard to understand." In the interview, many workers said that although there are occasional complaints, if the company is facing greater production and operation pressure, it can understand and accept temporary measures such as appropriate and moderate reduction of salary and adjustment of working hours for a period of time, in order to restore the vitality of the enterprise as soon as possible.
Adjust working hours within the scope of the law
Is it reasonable to have paid annual leave deducted after returning to work, double breaks to single breaks, and overtime work on weekdays? Legal professionals pointed out that the core of the problem lies in "legality" and "consultation".
"No matter how overtime is, two basic principles should be followed, one is not to exceed the statutory bottom line, that is, no more than 36 hours of overtime per week, and no more than 3 hours of overtime per day; the other is to ensure that workers share the results of overtime and pay overtime wages in full." Shen Jianfeng stressed.
Yu Yingying, a lawyer at Beijing Yingke Law Firm, said in an interview with the Workers' Daily that although the progress of resumption of work in various industries across the country is not the same, if the employee does not provide labor during working hours and does have leave, then there is nothing wrong with adjusting the working hours by means of centralized rest and deduction of annual leave, "but it is necessary to negotiate and fully communicate with the employee in advance."
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security's "Opinions on Labor Relations and Wage Payment During the Epidemic Prevention and Control Period" makes it clear that the state encourages qualified enterprises to arrange employees to work from home through flexible employment methods such as telephone and internet. For enterprises that do not have the conditions for remote work, in consultation with employees, they can give priority to the use of paid annual leave, enterprise-owned welfare awards and other holidays.
"The employer has the right to make overall arrangements for paid annual leave according to the production and work conditions of the employer, and the employee needs to negotiate with the employer on the time of annual leave." If the employer has arranged for the employee to take annual leave before returning to work, there is nothing wrong with not arranging annual leave after the resumption of work. Yu Yingying said.
At the same time, Yu Yingying reminded workers working from home during the resumption of work to pay attention to preserving evidence such as the employer's work notice, their own labor results, and online punch card records, so as not to be unable to produce evidence when encountering labor disputes. In addition, employers should also pay attention to the risk of labor disputes and protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees under the legal framework.
Legal professionals pointed out that in the special period of the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, workers and employers are in the same boat to overcome difficulties, which is not only the need of the current situation, but also the embodiment of the tradition of win-win cooperation between the two sides of China's labor relations. It is recommended that both workers and employers strengthen communication and enhance understanding, balance the relationship between promoting enterprise production and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers, and jointly fight the epidemic and seek common development.
Source: Workers Daily