Judicial Views
False reimbursement behavior not only violates the basic professional ethics of honesty and trustworthiness, but also causes losses to the employer. When determining the severity of the employee's violation, it should not be based solely on the amount of the loss. If you are a high-paying or high-position worker, and have no regrets about your violation and conceal or false statements, you should be considered to have seriously violated the rules and regulations.
Knowledge points
1, employees' false reimbursement behavior violates honest and trustworthy professional ethics
2, determining whether it is serious violation of rules and regulations cannot be based solely on the amount of losses of the employer
3, employers can make concrete provisions on professional ethics, corporate culture, etc. in the rules and regulations
4, after the employer discovers that the employee violates the rules and conducts investigation and evidence collection in time... See below for details
Classic Cases
On November 20, 2008, Zhang signed a labor contract with Company A, agreeing that Zhang was engaged in technical services, with a monthly salary of 12,000 yuan. It is also agreed that employees should abide by the company's current labor discipline, business ethics and various rules and regulations (including but not limited to the "Employee Manual", etc.) that the company has violated the company's labor discipline and rules and regulations, the company may impose disciplinary sanctions in accordance with relevant regulations until the contract is terminated. When this contract was signed, the company had provided employees with the Employee Manual and other current effective rules and regulations. Both parties confirm that the Employee Manual and the Rules and Regulations are effective supplements to this contract and are legally binding on both parties. The Employee Manual (2015 edition) stipulates that employees who provide false materials and make false statements during expense reimbursement, business negotiations, etc. will be terminated from the labor contract.
On May 7, 2018, Company A suspected that Zhang had false reimbursement on a business trip, so he investigated the matter and formed an investigation record, and Zhang signed and confirmed the record. In the transcript, Zhang believed that when he was on a business trip to Jiashan in October 2017, he communicated with the front desk waiter during the hotel stay and issued the invoice for each night to 218 and 228 yuan per night, but the real fee was 178 yuan per night. A total of about 600 yuan will be reimbursed.
On July 10, 2018, Company A issued a termination notice to Zhang, stating that because Zhang provided false materials for false reimbursement during the reimbursement of travel expenses, the labor relationship between Company A and Zhang will be terminated on July 24, 2018.
On August 13, 2018, Zhang applied for arbitration to the Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Committee, demanding that Company A resume labor relations. The Arbitration Committee ruled that it would not support Zhang's request. Zhang was dissatisfied with the ruling and filed a lawsuit in accordance with the law.
The court held that
According to the Labor Contract Law, if a worker seriously violates the rules and regulations of the employer, the employer may terminate the labor contract. The relevant laws do not stipulate that the employer shall continue to perform the labor contract. Whether a violation of discipline should be based on the labor discipline and employer rules and regulations that the worker himself is obliged to follow. Whether the violation is serious should generally be measured by the limits stipulated by labor laws and regulations and the specific provisions of the employer's internal rules and regulations on serious violations.
Zhang claimed that Company A should resume labor relations and continue to perform labor contracts. On July 24, 2018, Company A terminated the labor contract with Zhang on the grounds that Zhang provided false materials during the reimbursement of travel expenses and seriously violated the company's rules and regulations. Is it legal and valid?
First of all, Company A's "Employee Manual" (2015 edition) stipulates that providing false materials and making false statements during expense reimbursement, business negotiations and other fraudulent behaviors will be terminated. This regulation shows that Company A has made it clear to the company employees that false invoices or false reimbursement in business trip expense reimbursement is a serious violation of discipline, and the labor contract will be terminated. Zhang believes that the "Employee Manual" (2015 edition) has not been made public to him and is not binding on him.However, in the labor contract, Zhang confirmed in his labor contract that he should abide by the company's current labor discipline, business ethics and various rules and regulations that the company has currently revised and from time to time, and promised that if the company's labor discipline and rules and regulations are violated, he would accept the company's termination of the labor contract. Furthermore, during the trial, Zhang did not deny the existence of company rules and regulations during his tenure, and also expressed his awareness that false invoices and false reimbursement were violations of discipline. Therefore, Zhang's opinion on the non-binding of the "Employee Manual" (2015 edition) is not binding on it, and this court will not adopt it without factual basis;
Secondly, in October 2017, Zhang conspired with the Jiashan Tokyo Metropolitan Hotel waiter to issue an additional 600 yuan in accommodation fee invoices, and reimburse the business trip expenses based on the extra amount of accommodation fee invoices. Zhang had false invoices and false reimbursement. For this reason, Company A terminated the labor contract with Zhang on the grounds that Zhang provided false materials for false reimbursement and seriously violated the rules and regulations of the employer, which complyed with the relevant laws and company rules and regulations. , indicating that Company A's handling of termination of the labor contract made by Zhang on the grounds that Zhang provided false materials for false reimbursement and seriously violated the rules and regulations of the employer, which was in line with the provisions of relevant laws and company rules and regulations, indicating that the termination of the labor contract made by Company A to Zhang was legal and valid;
Again, although Zhang confirmed the signing of the statement during the trial, he believed that there was no fact of false invoices or false reimbursement. First, it is the basic professional ethics requirement of workers to abide by labor discipline and fulfill their obligations of loyalty in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Law. As a technical service personnel of the enterprise who enjoys higher treatment, Zhang Mou's loyalty to the enterprise is much higher than other employees. The determination of the severity of the violation of the false reimbursement behavior is not only about the amount, but also about the violation of the principle of integrity, infringement of the legal rights and interests of the enterprise, and the nature of the impact is bad. Secondly, when Zhang admitted during the investigation that he issued false invoices and false reimbursement when he was reimbursed during the investigation, he denied it in court, claiming that he did not have any false invoices or false reimbursement. However, Zhang failed to provide evidence to prove that the statement made during the investigation was not fact. Zhang's claim to be the opinion, and this court would not accept it. Third, Zhang not only did not regret the violation of the disciplinary act of false invoices and false reimbursement, but more seriously, he denied the statements he made during the investigation and made false statements in the lawsuit, which seriously violated the principle of integrity ;
Furthermore, Zhang believes that the formulation of the "Employee Manual" of Company A does not comply with democratic procedures and is not binding on it. As mentioned earlier, Zhang confirmed in his labor contract that he should abide by the company's current labor discipline, business ethics and various rules and regulations that the company has currently revised from time to time in the future. Moreover, A company solicited opinions from employees by sending emails . Therefore, Zhang's opinion also lacked factual and legal basis and this court refused to adopt it.
Finally, Zhang believed that the decision made by Company A to terminate the labor contract did not seek advice from the trade union and did not comply with the regulations. Because Company A did not establish a trade union organization, there were no conditions for soliciting opinions from Company A's trade union. Moreover, Company A has notified the local Federation of Trade Unions of the termination of the contract before the trial. Therefore, this court will not adopt Zhang's opinion.
In summary, Zhang's false invoices and false reimbursement constitutes a serious violation of discipline. Company A terminated the labor contract with Zhang based on this, which did not violate relevant legal provisions. Therefore, Zhang's request to Company A to resume his labor relations from July 24, 2018 will not support this court.
Therefore, the court ruled to reject Zhang's lawsuit request to restore the labor relationship.
Lawyer comments
The above typical cases involve the determination of employees' false reimbursement behavior. We will explain this several points:
1. The false reimbursement behavior of employees violates the honest and trustworthy professional ethics
Employees must not only abide by the rules and regulations formulated by the employer and various labor disciplines in the process of fulfilling their labor contracts, but also abide by the most basic professional ethics . Employees should actively protect the rights and interests of employers and strive to enhance the interests of employers.
Although there is no unified standard for professional ethics, there are minimum requirements. Honesty, trustworthiness, love and dedicated work are principles that workers in any employer or position should adhere to. False reimbursement of employees not only violates the basic principle of honesty and trustworthiness, but also causes economic losses to the employer. It is an act that workers should absolutely prohibit.
2. Determining whether the rules and regulations is seriously violated cannot be based solely on the amount of losses of the employer
According to the Labor Contract Law, only if the employer seriously violates the rules and regulations of the employer, the employer can unilaterally terminate the labor contract. When determining the severity of the employee's violation, it should not only be based on the amount of losses of the employer, but also the following two aspects should be determined :
First, The position of the employee . For senior management personnel with higher positions, their obligation of attention should be higher than that of ordinary workers. Combined with factors such as their knowledge level, experience ability, etc., if such workers violate the most basic labor discipline and professional ethics, they should be considered to have greater subjective malice.
Second, The attitude of workers towards violations . If the worker can stop in time and take remedial measures to reduce losses after committing the violation, it can be determined that the worker's violation is relatively minor. If the worker conceals the facts and obstructs the employer's investigation after committing a violation, and has no intention of repentance, the worker should be determined to be the serious violation of the rules.
The false reimbursement act committed by Zhang in this case is an act that ordinary workers should know that they cannot do. As a worker with higher salary and position, Zhang should even eliminate such acts that violate the principle of honesty and trustworthiness. Moreover, Zhang had no regrets and concealed facts and made false statements during arbitration and trial, which seriously violated the principle of integrity. On this basis, although Zhang falsely reimbursed 600 yuan without causing huge economic losses to the employer, Zhang's various actions constituted a serious violation of the employer's rules and regulations, and Company A has the right to terminate the labor contract with him.
Company Governance Suggestions
1. Employers can make concrete provisions on professional ethics, corporate culture, etc. in rules and regulations
Professional ethics and corporate culture are relatively abstract concepts and are difficult to directly apply to labor employment management. However, employers can make concrete provisions on the connotation of professional ethics and corporate culture in rules and regulations based on their actual situation. For example, the provisions that the company A’s “Employee Manual” in this case, which prohibits false reimbursement, reflects the principle of honesty and trustworthiness in professional ethics. For example, the employer's employee manual reflects the company's corporate culture "Integrity and pragmatism, truthfulness, daring to act, and rejecting the temptation of personal interests" in the article "information and pragmatism, seeking truth from facts, daring to act, and rejecting the temptation of personal interests" in the article.
2. After the employer finds that the worker violates the rules, it shall conduct a timely investigation and evidence collection
After the employer formulates rules and regulations, it shall strictly manage the employment of the workers in accordance with the regulations. If it is found that the worker may have committed a violation, the employer should investigate and collect evidence first, and cannot directly terminate the labor contract.
Employers can talk to workers and other informed personnel, understand the case, listen to workers' statements, and make a record of the talks for workers to sign and confirm. In addition, evidence can be collected through recording, taking photos, and taking videos. In this case, Company A, after learning of the false reimbursement incident, conducted a timely investigation and prepared a record of the talks signed and confirmed by Zhang. In the transcript of the talks, Zhang admitted that he had false reimbursed, which provided a basis for the arbitration committee and court to determine the facts of the case.
Law Guidelines
"Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 39 If a worker is in any of the following circumstances, the employer may terminate the labor contract:
(1) It is proved that it does not meet the employment conditions during the probation period;
(2) It seriously violates the rules and regulations of the employer;
(3) It is seriously dereliction of duty, commits illicit fraud, causing significant damage to the employer;
(4) It is the worker who establishes labor relations with other employers at the same time, which has a serious impact on the completion of the work tasks of the unit, or refuses to correct it after the employer proposes;
(5) It is invalid due to the circumstances stipulated in Article 26, Paragraph 1, Paragraph 1 of this Law;
(6) It is held criminally responsible in accordance with the law.
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