A few days ago, the People's Court of Haimen District, Nantong City heard a case of disputes caused by employees being unable to return to work on time due to epidemic prevention and control reasons, and the employer using this as an excuse to terminate the labor contract. The court supported the employee's request for the company to pay economic compensation for the termination of the labor contract.
Wang, a person from other provinces, joined a technology company in Nantong in May 2016. In mid-January 2020, Wang returned to his hometown for the New Year holiday. Later, due to the impact of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, I did not go to work after the holiday. At the end of February 2020, the technology company mailed a job notice to Wang, requiring Wang to go to work on March 9, 2020. If he did not go to work for more than three working days, he would be deemed to have voluntarily resigned and the company would automatically terminate his labor relationship.
After receiving the notice from the company, Wang asked the technology company to issue a work resumption certificate on the grounds of epidemic control. The technology company did not issue a certificate, and Wang did not take a job at the technology company.
Later, Wang applied to the arbitration committee for arbitration on the grounds that the company illegally terminated the labor contract, requiring the defendant to pay economic compensation for the termination of the labor contract, wages for delayed resumption of work, etc. After hearing the case, the arbitration committee ruled that the company should pay Wang more than 7,000 yuan in wages for delayed resumption of work. Wang was dissatisfied with the arbitration award and sued to Haimen Court.
The Haimen Court held that due to the impact of the epidemic, the failure to resume work normally after the Spring Festival holiday was excusable. After Wang received the notice from the technology company to resume work, he immediately requested a resumption certificate through WeChat, otherwise he would not be able to travel to other provinces. This is consistent with Technology companies ignored the actual situation of epidemic prevention and control at that time, which was obviously inappropriate. Therefore, although the technology company did not determine that Wang was absent from work and made the decision to terminate the labor contract in accordance with the labor regulations, it determined that Wang had resigned voluntarily and stopped paying labor remuneration to Wang. It claimed that the labor contract of had been terminated and was legally prohibited. No evidence.
The court held that the technology company clearly did not agree to continue to perform the labor contract, and the labor contract between the two parties was terminated. Wang’s request for the defendant to pay economic compensation for the termination of the labor contract should be supported. After the first-instance judgment of
was made, the technology company was dissatisfied and appealed. In the second instance, the two parties reached mediation, and the technology company voluntarily paid Wang a total of more than 30,000 yuan, including economic compensation for terminating the labor contract.
[Judge’s statement]
In this case, the labor contract cannot be terminated unilaterally...
The judge handling the case stated that during the special period of epidemic prevention and control, workers and employers should understand each other and help each other. Although the " Labor Contract Law" stipulates the statutory circumstances for unilateral termination of labor contracts by workers and employers, the original intention of the legislation is to protect the autonomy of both parties to the labor contract, rather than as a legal basis for infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of the other party.
The judge said that the employer can include absenteeism as a condition for " self-leavement " in the rules and regulations, but absenteeism is not a legal reason for the employer to terminate the labor contract. The employer cannot unilaterally terminate the labor contract due to the failure of employees to return to work on time due to traffic control measures for epidemic prevention and control. Otherwise, the termination may be later deemed an illegal termination and the employer may pay economic compensation to the employee, which is not only in its own interests. Damage is not conducive to the harmonious development of labor relations, and it can be said that the gain outweighs the loss.
Correspondent Shen Gaoxuan Yangtze Evening News\/Ziniu News reporter Wan Chengyuan
Source: Ziniu News
