On the eve of the May Day International Labor Day, courts across the country have released typical cases of labor disputes, covering new forms of employment, confirmation of labor relations, labor dispatch, work-related injury insurance benefits, non competition restrictions, employee vacation benefits, equity incentives, disciplinary termination, and disputes over year-end bonuses after resignation.

After comparative analysis, the author has summarized the types of cases involving many or innovative courts in various regions. This article is written on some of the controversial focuses of the cases and the judgment standards of the courts. We look forward to exchanging and sharing with readers. If there is any incompleteness, please feel free to advise and contact us for guidance.

In addition, the author has compiled a table of typical cases that have been published after incomplete summary. Please click on the link on the right to obtain it, link:/Upload/file/202230509/20230509135731_ 2356.xlsx

1、 Cases involving new forms of employment

The rapid development of the platform economy has created a large number of job opportunities. The number of new employment forms such as delivery riders, couriers, network anchors, and delivery personnel relying on internet platforms has significantly increased, and safeguarding the labor security rights and interests of workers is facing new situations and problems. In the cases announced in various regions, the demands of the above workers are concentrated on requiring confirmation of labor relations, pursuing labor remuneration, and claiming work-related injury insurance benefits. However, the core issue remains the determination of labor relations.

In practice, contracts signed between workers and platform operators or third-party companies may be labor contracts, cooperation agreements, or contract contracts. However, if the actual performance and actual legal relationship between the two parties are in line with the established labor relationship situation, the court still holds the core principle of "strong subordination", that is, based on the personality and economic subordination of the employees during the employment period The existence of a relationship between management and being managed is the core element of determining labor relations, and determining whether there is a labor relationship or factual labor relationship between enterprises and individuals under the flexible employment model. In addition, the Shanghai court is also concerned about whether there is a consensus between the two parties to establish a labor relationship.

2、 Disputes over work-related injury insurance benefits

The Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court held a press conference on the trial of disputes over work-related injury insurance benefits, focusing on releasing 5 typical work-related injury treatment cases. Tianjin, Anhui, Chongqing, Sichuan, Hunan and other places also released typical work-related injury cases. The case mainly involves the responsibility for work-related injury insurance benefits, work stoppage and salary retention period, and related benefits.

Regarding the issue of responsibility for work-related injury insurance benefits, the direction of the referee mainly reflects two aspects:

1. Whether the employee voluntarily proposes or promises in writing to give up participating in social insurance, or the employer adopts methods such as third-party payment, remote payment, or payment of commercial insurance, it is a violation of legal provisions, and the employer shall still bear the liability for work-related injury insurance;

2. Specifically, individual businesses and illegal subcontracting construction units can be recognized as the responsible parties for work-related injury insurance benefits.

The referee also clarified two points regarding the issue of work stoppage, salary leave, and related benefits:

1. During the period of suspension and salary retention or before reaching a conclusion on labor appraisal, the employer shall not terminate or terminate the labor relationship, and shall pay the wages during the suspension and salary retention period in full;

2. If treatment is still required after the suspension of work and salary period expires, the worker shall continue to enjoy work-related injury medical treatment. However, the work-related injury medical treatment is not the same as the suspension of work and salary period treatment. Therefore, the worker should resume normal work after the suspension of work and salary period expires without extension, disability or recurrence of old injuries.

It should be noted that the work-related injury insurance system is designed to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation services for workers who encounter accidents in accordance with the law, ensuring the livelihood of workers and their families. Its purpose is to provide strong protection for workers. At the same time, from the trial results of work-related injury insurance compensation disputes, the success rate of workers is much higher than that of employers. So for employers, considering the increasing base of calculating and paying work-related injury insurance benefits, they should handle similar cases with caution, otherwise it will become increasingly difficult to bear the cost of illegal activities.

3、 Non compete dispute cases

Usually, in non compete dispute cases, there are many typical controversial focuses under the validity of non compete agreements and their terms, whether workers have violated non compete agreements, and diversified liability for breach of contract. The judgment results of the non compete dispute cases released in various regions are that the workers, as senior management personnel, senior technical personnel, and personnel with confidentiality obligations, violated the non compete obligations during the non compete period and are required to bear the liability for breach of contract.

Specifically, how to determine the existence of a competitor company for employment is not described in the published case, and the author has not yet found the published judgment documents. However, regarding the issue of whether the amount of liquidated damages for non competition restrictions stipulated in the agreement is significantly too high and how to handle it, different regions reflect different judgment standards:

In the labor dispute case between a certain aquatic feed company and Gao, the Tianjin court believes that employers should be prevented from improperly using the non compete system to cause excessive damage to the freedom of employment of workers, because most of the workers who are subject to non compete restrictions are senior management personnel of enterprises and social elites. It is necessary to fully consider that the convenient flow and optimized allocation of talents can further empower the innovation and development of enterprises and society. The final court determines that the defaulting worker shall pay a portion of the penalty for breach of contract.

In the "Liu and a certain technology company's non compete dispute case", the Sichuan court believes that malicious violations of non compete obligations should be evaluated in a negative manner. On the one hand, it reminds workers, especially those who hold core business secrets of the enterprise, to strictly fulfill the non compete agreement and not violate the non compete obligations through various means of modification; On the other hand, it warns and deters employers who obtain unfair competition advantages through malicious "poaching". The final court held that the amount of liquidated damages for non compete restrictions agreed upon by both parties was not significantly too high, so it did not reduce the liquidated damages. The defaulting worker should compensate the company with a penalty equivalent to five times the economic compensation for non compete restrictions that had already been received.

It can be seen that in cases of non compete disputes, judicial decisions in various regions have placed emphasis on the balance between protecting trade secrets and free career choices in specific cases, and cannot draw a conclusion from the overall perspective. It is believed that the court's judgment approach has shifted from "discretionary adjustments to liquidated damages based on employees' actual service time, specific income, etc." to "fully respect the principle of autonomy of the parties to the agreement". However, understanding and mastering the scope of local judicial decisions and the perspective of similar cases still has important reference value for the system and text design of local employers' non competition restrictions, as well as for the performance or rights relief of non competition restrictions on both sides of the labor force.

4、 Dispute case on confirmation of employee bankruptcy claims

In addition, although the dispute over the confirmation of employee bankruptcy claims is an extension of labor disputes, there are also three typical cases that focus on the priority scope of employee bankruptcy claims, salary standards for senior management personnel, and innovative procedures, which have positive significance in regulating and guiding the withdrawal of market entities and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers.

In the case of "Zhang v. Confirmation of Bankruptcy Creditor's Rights of an Agricultural Company Employee", the Guangdong court held that after the company's business license was revoked, the actual controller who had liquidation obligations claimed that the compensation for handling aftermath affairs after the revocation belonged to the priority bankruptcy creditor's rights of employees, and was not supported by law.

In the case of a dispute over the confirmation of bankruptcy claims among employees of a trust company limited by shares, an asset management company limited by shares in Chongqing, Sun, a property development company limited by shares in Chongqing, and a construction engineering company limited by shares in Chongqing, the Chongqing court held that despite the continuous deterioration of the company's operating conditions and the brink of bankruptcy, senior management personnel of the enterprise still seek high annual salaries through settlement, IOUs, and other forms, Not only does it exceed the necessary limit for safeguarding the basic survival rights and interests of employees, but it will also harm the legitimate rights and interests of other creditors and should be restricted.

In addition, the Supreme Law believes that in enforcement cases, for executed enterprises with assets and salvage value, pre restructuring procedures can be introduced through the "enforcement integration" mechanism, fully utilizing the bankruptcy rescue function to efficiently repay employee debts.

5、 Typical Cases of Socialist Core Values

Courts in various regions have implemented the Guiding Opinions on Deeply Promoting the Integration of Socialist Core Values into Judicial Interpretation and Reasoning issued by the Supreme People's Court, and have announced multiple typical cases, effectively exerting the functions of judicial adjudication in regulating, evaluating,

educating, and guiding national and social governance.

In typical cases of labor disputes announced in various regions, the socialist core values mainly reflect two major functions:

1. Argumentation and reinforcement function, that is, for those who already have normative legal documents as the basis for judgment, the court first interprets the relevant provisions of the normative legal documents, and then combines the original meaning of the law with the socialist core values to further clarify the legal connotation, clarify the legislative purpose, and discuss the reasons for judgment. For example, In the typical case of "Workers have the Right to Refuse Employers to Pay Wages in Virtual Currency" issued by the Supreme Law on March 1, 2023, using virtual currency as salary to pay wages to workers violates the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the People's Bank of China" and the "Interim Provisions on Salary Payment" The regulations should be deemed invalid. At the same time, the Supreme Court believes that this case clearly denies the legality of paying wages using virtual currency, which is conducive to regulating enterprise employment, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of workers, enhancing the risk prevention and legal awareness of both workers and employers. It has positive significance for building harmonious labor relations, demonstrating the value of integrity, optimizing the business environment, maintaining economic and financial order, and social stability, and promoting the rule of law The core socialist values of integrity.

2. The supplementary function of rules belongs to the concretization of public order and good customs. The court cites core values as the basis for supporting the parties' right to request or terminate beyond the current rules of law. For example, in the labor dispute case between a certain commercial bank and Liu, the Tianjin court held that love for work, integrity, and friendliness are important contents of the socialist core values. Liu's posting on his Moments implies that the employer's leadership work ability is lacking, the language is crude and unattractive, has exceeded the boundaries of reasonable disclosure, contradicts the requirements of socialist core values, and has a negative demonstration effect. The relevant behaviors of workers violate basic professional ethics and professional ethics, as well as the virtues of honesty and friendliness. Even if the "Measures for Handling Employee Violations" and other rules and regulations do not regulate the online words and actions of workers, a commercial bank, based on its own management function, terminates its labor contract with Liu, which also complies with legal provisions and should not pay compensation for illegal termination.

The integration of socialist core values into the interpretation and reasoning of judicial documents not only helps to enhance the strength and social acceptance of the reasoning of the judgment itself, but also further promotes the core values, drives the people to integrate the spirit of the rule of law into social life, and strives to make the people feel fairness and justice in every judicial case.

In addition to the classification based on the types of disputes mentioned above, the author has noticed that the typical cases released by courts in various regions focus on specific types of workers. For example, the Beijing Haidian Court has released four typical cases involving programmer labor disputes, and the Beijing Xicheng Court has held a press conference to release six typical cases involving the labor disputes of the new generation of workers born in the 1990s and 2000s, On May 1st of this year, the Supreme People's Court also released ten typical cases of wage cases involving agricultural migrant workers. The publication of relevant typical cases reflects the gradual refinement of the summary of labor dispute cases by judicial authorities. On the one hand, it provides direct samples for workers in the same industry to protect their rights, and on the other hand, it also points out the compliance direction for employers in relevant fields and industries.