After 18 days of summer work, I got less than three figures.
Recently, some media have received help from two college students’ summer jobs. According to the payroll provided by them, the original agreed basic salary was 1000 yuan. When recruiting, it was said that it was good to have food and shelter, but when it was settled, it was deducted again. After deducting various expenses, only 100 yuan was left. Other summer jobs in the same period even worked for 32 days, and finally only got 126 yuan.
During the summer vacation, many college students choose to do summer jobs. However, a recent survey by the reporter of the Rule of Law Daily found that many college students who have had summer jobs on social platforms spit out that "don’t work in summer vacation" and "summer jobs are all traps". Some employers clearly promised "high salary" when recruiting, but actually deducted wages for various reasons. Some employers only regard summer jobs as short-term cheap labor, completely ignoring their due labor rights and interests.
Why is the chaos of summer workers constantly? How can we safeguard the rights and interests of summer workers? With these questions, the reporter launched an investigation and interview.
Promise in advance and fail afterwards.
Deduct one’s due salary and then deduct it
In June this year, Xiao Zi of Yibin City, Sichuan Province, who was preparing to go to college after the college entrance examination, saw a message on the Internet about recruiting a summer job. She worked in a logistics park in the suburbs, doing sorting, loading and unloading express delivery. Xiao Zi and five classmates went to work together. A few young people with the idea of "making some money by the way" did not expect to be severely "splashed with cold water".
"At that time, it was agreed that 15 yuan would work for one hour, five days a week, and the salary would be paid weekly. The working hours every day were from 2 am to 1 pm. Accommodation is free, and everyone can pay 10 yuan’s utilities every day. You can earn almost 800 yuan in a week. " Xiao Zi said that the conditions provided by the employer at the time of recruitment made him and his friends feel quite good, so he readily agreed to go to work after short-term training. Unexpectedly, the actual treatment was completely different from the other party’s promise.
Xiao Zi recalled: "When I went to get my salary in the first week, I found that 800 yuan’s salary was only expected to be more than 100 yuan: originally, only the water and electricity charges in 10 yuan turned out to be utilities, insurance, accommodation and other expenses, which added up to more than 200 yuan a week, but we didn’t actually apply for any insurance; After working for 5 days, it turns out that I only succeeded in punching in 3 days. The key is that no one told us to punch in. Instead of calculating working hours according to the original 11 hours every day, we directly deducted two hours for eating and resting. "
After Xiao Zi and others got their first week’s salary, they were deeply indignant. Later, they found the local labor inspection department, and the staff helped them get back the "inexplicably deducted part" salary after understanding the situation.
Lin Yi, a college student in Shantou City, Guangdong Province, who also suffered from salary deduction, was not so lucky. In July this year, Lin Yi found a summer job as a residential security guard through a recruitment agency. It was originally agreed with the agency that he would work in 20 yuan for one month with an hour’s salary and eight hours a day.
"When I signed the contract, I didn’t pay attention. The originally agreed month became three months. Now I want to leave for a month, and the other party disagrees. It is said that the agreement is written as above for three months. If I work for one month, I can only get half of my salary, and my working hours have become 12 hours a day. If I can’t do 12 hours an hour, I will only give it to 15 yuan." Lin Yi said, in this way, the final salary is only one third of the original. He also tried to ask the local labor inspection department for help, and the other party said that there was no good way to solve this situation.
Through investigation and interview, the reporter found that the situation of deducting summer workers’ wages has occurred from time to time, and the reasons for deducting them are also varied. It is worth noting that these cases of wage deduction are often not explained before summer workers get paid.
Shen Jianfeng, a professor at the Law School of the Central University of Finance and Economics, told the reporter that most of the current judicial practices in China believe that students can’t establish labor relations, which leads to the phenomenon that students use summer vacations to work without the protection of labor law, and their rights and obligations can only be determined according to the free agreement of the parties. The agreement reached by the parties according to law is also legally binding, and both parties shall abide by it. In the case of realizing the agreed remuneration and the reasons for deduction, arbitrary deduction in violation of the agreement constitutes a breach of contract. Students have the right to ask the unit to continue to pay labor remuneration and bear the responsibility for breach of contract.
According to Li Haiming, an associate professor at the School of Law of the Central University of Finance and Economics, the nature of summer jobs is controversial, and the legal relationship between summer jobs organized by schools and students’ autonomy is also different. If it is a student’s independent summer job and has little to do with the student’s major, it is more reasonable to adjust it by the labor law. At this time, the rights of summer workers should be protected in strict accordance with the legal system of wage guarantee. If the focus of students’ summer work is not to earn remuneration and subsidize their study and life, but to gain professional experience through internships, then the rules of wage guarantee should not be applied, but the rules of the Ministry of Education on remuneration and subsidies for internships should still be applied.
"In addition, the key to this inconsistency between commitment and fulfillment is not whether it constitutes wage deduction, but whether the contract is observed. If students can provide sufficient evidence, there should be multiple ways to relieve their remuneration rights. " Li Haiming said.
Recruitment fraud damages rights and interests
Various excuses to refuse to pay wages.
Zhang Li, a college student from Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, told the reporter that some time ago, he saw a company recruiting in the part-time group. The salary was 3,000 yuan per month, and he only worked for three days a week and the work was easy, but he didn’t know what to do until the interview.
"The treatment is high and easy, so I naturally want to give it a try." Zhang Li said that according to the address provided by the other party, he came to a residential building without any signboard. The person in charge of reception told him to pay the 100 yuan deposit before making sure to work.
However, after paying the deposit, Zhang Li found something wrong. "The other party told me that I have to pull 20 people over before I can arrange work. The deposit will not be refunded until I have pulled enough." Zhang Li said, "In this way, I took the 100 yuan and the toll for nothing, and finally I didn’t earn anything. The part-time group was dissolved in a few days, and then I went to find someone else to go to the building."
This kind of "reality is inconsistent with propaganda" has been encountered by many summer workers. "Before I came, I vowed that interns and regular workers were treated equally. Now 1000 yuan’s wages are delayed. I really didn’t expect it." Chen Bei, who went to college in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, told reporters that she was attracted by "high salary" and went to a local education institution as a summer job. At that time, it was agreed to pay 80% of the wages of regular workers, but it became 40% after one month, and it changed from 8000 yuan to 4000 yuan a month. "And we didn’t enjoy all kinds of benefits of regular workers, such as taxi subsidies, fruits every day, etc. In addition to the work we should do, we have to do chores such as cleaning, far exceeding the agreed off-duty time, so the monthly salary is only 70%, and we will pay it all when we leave." Chen Bei said, but after working for a month to find the other party to leave, the other party refused to pay the unpaid salary of more than 1,000 yuan on the grounds that "temporary workers can’t resign at any time".
In the investigation, the reporter found that many intermediaries and companies will publish high-paying recruitment information through part-time groups, "friends circle" and local recruitment platforms, but the actual treatment may be greatly reduced. In some places, the recruitment of WeChat official account and part-time workers lacks basic review, and there is also a summer job with an hour of 4,500 yuan. In the remarks, it is also required to say that you saw the recruitment information on a recruitment platform when contacting.
Liu Wei, a partner of Beijing Shengchi Law Firm and a member of the Labor and Social Security Law Business Research Association of Beijing Chaoyang District Lawyers Association, told the reporter that some recruitment units drain job seekers by publishing high-paying information on the recruitment platform, and then sit on the ground and bargain, or make deductions under various pretexts. This behavior is a typical recruitment fraud, which seriously damages the rights and interests of job seekers.
The reporter’s investigation found that there are intermediaries who introduce summer workers to get kickbacks. For example, the price given by the factory is one hour in 20 yuan, and the outsourcing company gives one hour in 14 yuan, from which both the introduction fee and the salary difference are obtained.
Guo Yang, a lawyer of Beijing Kangda (Xi ‘an) Law Firm, believes that after collecting the referral fee, the professional intermediary deducts the service fee of the summer job privately, which infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of the summer job. "The existence of black intermediaries will interfere with the normal market order and bring inconvenience and uncertainty to students or job seekers applying for jobs or internships. The information published by the recruitment platform should be open and transparent, and the principle of equality and voluntariness should also be followed when communicating with job seekers specifically. "
In addition, many summer workers spoke to reporters, and the enterprises they met refused to pay or deduct wages for summer workers on the grounds that they had not worked for many days. Is this legal?
Li Haiming believes that we should look at the agreement, especially the enterprise should make an agreement before the trial work. Part-time employment should be governed by the rules of part-time employment, and the law clearly stipulates that the settlement period should not exceed 15 days. You should also look at the specific work content. If it is a simple piece-by-piece work by the day, you should pay your salary by the day; If you just try it, you can respect the agreement between the two parties, but you should also abide by the minimum hourly wage.
Guo Yang told reporters that there is no mandatory provision in the law on the payment period of labor fees. Generally, the labor service provider and the employer agree on their own in the labor contract, and they can be settled regularly in hours, days, weeks, months and other time periods. Because the time for summer workers to provide labor services is often short, we should try our best to agree on a shorter settlement period with the employer, which can effectively prevent the behavior of defaulting on labor fees.
Multi-pronged approach to strengthen supervision
Enhance students’ awareness of rights protection
Why does summer employment chaos exist for a long time?
Experts interviewed believe that an important reason is that it is difficult for students to defend their rights, and black intermediaries cannot be effectively supervised and punished.
Guo Yang said that the difficulty in safeguarding rights lies in the fact that without a labor contract, it is difficult to prove that there is a labor contract relationship between summer workers and employers. Generally speaking, job advertisements will not be regarded as the commitment of enterprises, nor can they be regarded as the existence of labour relation. The rights and obligations of both parties shall be subject to the labor contract, so summer workers should sign the labor contract as much as possible, and should pay attention to checking whether the recruitment advertisement is consistent with the contract content.
In Liu Wei’s view, the cost of protecting the rights of summer workers is often relatively high. For example, the labor inspection department may refuse to deal with it based on the fact that the relationship between summer workers and employers is not labor relations. If they go to court to sue, they will face economic pressures such as too long litigation period and certain legal fees and attorney fees. In addition, the salary of summer workers is relatively low, and many people may finally have to choose to give up their rights protection.
Liu Wei said that the long-term existence of summer employment chaos stems from many reasons, and it is necessary to take a multi-pronged approach to governance. First of all, the employer, that is, the enterprise, should adhere to the principle of good faith in strict accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, strengthen the management of employment compliance, and pay labor remuneration according to the salary standard agreed with job seekers, and must not reduce or deduct it in disguise without authorization. The competent departments such as the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau should give full play to their supervisory functions, severely punish those who maliciously deduct the salary of summer workers, and impose fines and rectification according to law in addition to ordering them to reissue. As a recruitment platform that provides recruitment information, it should also do its utmost to carefully examine the recruitment information. If it is found that there are false propaganda and fraud in the recruitment unit, it should stop providing recruitment services to it in time, and even set up a "blacklist" system to exclude the recruitment unit that lacks the principle of good faith from the cooperative customers.
In Shen Jianfeng’s view, enterprises should strictly implement the Regulations on the Administration of Human Resources Service Institutions, which was implemented on August 1 this year. At the same time, relevant departments should change the practice of judging that summer workers cannot establish labor relations and are not protected by labor laws at all.
Li Haiming suggested that schools and markets should attach importance to college students’ education, incorporate their summer work practice into the key work of college students’ education, and provide standardized and suitable summer job opportunities for college students.
Guo Yang believes that summer workers should raise their awareness of rights protection, and they can ask to sign a labor agreement with the employer to avoid labor disputes and avoid difficulties in subsequent rights protection because there is no relevant evidence. If the employer is unwilling to sign any agreement, it can save relevant evidence through attendance records, online chat records or audio and video recordings. When the legitimate rights and interests are damaged, they can bring a civil lawsuit to the people’s court to protect their rights. At the same time, we should pay attention to identifying employment information and applying for jobs from formal channels.
(The parties in the text are all pseudonyms)
□ Our reporter Zhang Shoukun
□ Intern Chen Lier of this newspaper