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[New Coronary Pneumonia] Workers are "bellied", the responsibility is not only on the labor

2020-09-22T23:44:00.287Z


The new crown pneumonia epidemic continues. During the epidemic, many companies chose to shorten their business hours. However, the reduction in the number of employees working hours also caused a "negative clock" controversy. Earlier, a listed fashion company shortened its branch business hours to eight hours


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Written by: comment editing room

2020-09-23 07:30

Last update date: 2020-09-23 07:30

The new crown pneumonia epidemic continues. During the epidemic, many companies chose to shorten their business hours. However, the reduction in the number of employees working hours also caused a "negative clock" controversy.

Earlier, a listed fashion company shortened the opening hours of its branches to eight hours, but because the employment contract still maintains 54 hours per week, a large number of employees are regarded as "negative clocks" for one hour each day, resulting in employees who owe clocks when they leave And being deducted from leave or even salary deduction.

Whether the early closing of stores can become a "negative clock" has also aroused public concern.

The new crown pneumonia epidemic continues, and many companies choose to shorten their business hours during the epidemic.

(Information Picture/Photo by Lu Yiming)

Gray areas to be sorted out

According to the "Employment Regulations", the employer shall not deduct any money from the employee's wages, except for the circumstances stipulated by the regulations, such as absence of employees, damage to or loss of employer property, meals, accommodation, loan of grain, etc.

In the case of the company taking the initiative to shorten the operating hours, employees are unable to fulfill the responsibilities of working hours. Whether the employees should fully bear the responsibility is worthy of social consideration.

For example, when a lawyer responded to the media, he pointed out that shortening business hours by employers themselves cannot be a reason for salary deductions.

If the company takes the initiative to ask employees to shorten their working hours and then deduct their wages, whether this situation meets the requirements of the law, it may finally be resolved by both employers and employees in court.

Although the employees involved were eventually able to recover their salaries deducted by the company after months of disputes, it is not uncommon for local workers to be forced to take unpaid leave and discounts on their monthly food payments since the epidemic.

The director-general of the Trade Union Union Meng Zhaoda also said that he has received more than a dozen similar complaints recently and found that the "negative clock system" is quite common in the local retail industry. Many retail stores and fashion brands have the same phenomenon.

Under the epidemic, unemployment rates in many industries have risen sharply. In order to keep their jobs, employees often can only swallow their anger in the face of corporate arrangements.

The unequal status of labor and management makes employees passive in negotiation from time to time.

If the negative clock system has become the norm in the industry, it will be even more difficult for workers to change the ecology by themselves.

Labor processing should actively investigate similar cases, find out whether the incident involves employer deductions from wages, and actively intervene for employees in labor negotiations.

When calculating employee compensation, "negative clock" is regarded as a reason for deduction of salary and holidays, which undoubtedly hits the protection of employees' benefits.

The duty of the Labour Department is to protect labor rights. This is not only to allow employees to have jobs, but also to combat all kinds of exploitation methods.

Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the unemployment rate in Hong Kong has been rising in the past few months. Many employees are worried about wage cuts, reduced working hours or layoffs.

(Profile picture)

Government sponsored employees

Even if a company shortens its business hours due to changes in the business environment, employees should not be targeted by the company.

If arrangements such as unpaid leave or the "negative clock system" are in a gray area permitted by the law, the Labour Department and the Labour and Welfare Bureau should take the lead in reviewing the existing legislation, which should be the consideration of the authorities.

Starting with changes to the Employment Ordinance may not be able to catch up with the urgent needs of society.

During the epidemic, employers should be encouraged to avoid operating on employees. The government can still start with support to enterprises, and restrict the arrangements of unpaid leave and negative clock system in terms of the conditions of the employment guarantee plan.

For example, the government can study requiring employers to promise to maintain their employees' monthly salary. If employers reduce the number of hours employees work, the government subsidy should also be reduced proportionally, so that government subsidies can really help grassroots employees to maintain their livelihoods.

The government's employment guarantee can not only keep the company from continuing to operate, but also expose frontline employees to the impact of the epidemic.

[New Coronary Pneumonia] Since the employee's work owe protection, labor reform must pay attention to

No fundamental improvement in the second-round employment plan

Why does the government still oppose unemployment assistance in the economic downturn?

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Labor Department Labor Protection New Coronary Pneumonia 01 Viewpoint

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-09-22

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