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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-19/chinese-companies-say-they-can-t-afford-to-pay-workers-right-now





I was interviewed by Bloomberg a few days ago on how salary should be paid for February. You can read the full article by clicking on the link above.





Since my first article on labour disputes: Law Says Full Salary Despite Coronavirus, I have received over 50,000 enqueries on how employees should be paid during this period. This includes expats from all industries, including but not limited to teaching, manufacturing and food and beverage. Most of the questions can be classified into these five situations.





Situation 1

Your contract includes a clause that says "Salary is based on X amount of working days per month", or "The employee is required to work X amount of hours/days per month". Therefore, your employer says as there are no working hours/days this month, so according to the contract, there shall be no pay!





Wrong. This clause contradicts with article 2 of "Notice from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Improving the Handling of Issues in Labor Relationships During the Period for Protection and Control of Pneumonia from the Novel Coronavirus Infection" which was published on the 24th of January, 2020. Therefore, this clause in your contract is invalid. I have included this law in both languages and the official government link at the bottom of the article.





Situation 2

Your boss says there shall be no pay because you are not in China. Even though the company is not open until March, you must be here.







Wrong. There is absolutely no legal basis behind this. As long as you can reach the office on the day it opens, there is no clause at all to deduct your pay.





Situation 3

Your boss says he cannot assign you online classes because you are not in China at the moment. As there are no classes, why should there be any pay?





Wrong. It is your employer's responsibility to assign you tasks, but not that you do not want to work online. Even if you are on the other side of the globe and there is a time difference of 12 hours, as long as you can carry out those tasks, there is no legal basis for deducting your salary.





For example, even if those online classes take place at 3 pm in China, which is 3 am at your side, as long as you can perform your job duties, it is still not an excuse to cut off pay.







Situation 4



Your boss says 50% of your January wages will be paid now and the other half will be paid when the company reopens. When will the company reopen? Nobody knows!







Illegal. Any delay in payment of wages is illegal, unless the banks are not open or the company accountant is in the hospital or under quarrantine.





Situation 5



Your employer says that as you are not a Chinese national, Chinese labour laws do not apply to you.





Wrong. Chinese Labour Law applies to any human being working legally in China. This is one of the worst excuses I have ever heard of!









If your problem falls into these five situations, you now know that you are entitled to February's wages. What if your employer still insists on not paying, or only paying the minumum wage? I have written a detailed guide on what you can do right here: What To Do If Salary Not Paid.









Law In A Minute





http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-01/27/content_5472508.htm





Notice from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Improving the Handling of Issues in Labor Relationships During the Period for Protection and Control of Pneumonia from the Novel Coronavirus Infection

Article 2

Where enterprises experience production and business difficulties due to the impact of the epidemic, they may consult with employees to reach an agreement on adjusting salaries, work rotations, reducing work hours, and other methods to maintain positions, avoiding or minimizing layoffs as much as possible. Eligible enterprises may receive subsidies for maintaining positions in accordance with regulations. Where enterprises stop production during a pay period, the enterprises should pay salaries as provided in the labor contract. Where it is for longer than a pay period, if employees provide normal labor, salaries paid by the enterprise must not be lower than the local minimum wage standard. Where professionals do not provide regular labor, the enterprises shall issue living allowances at a standard provided for by provinces', autonomous regions' and directly-governed municipalities' measures.







人力资源社会保障部办公厅关于妥善处理新型冠状病毒感染的肺炎疫情防控期间劳动关系问题的通知

第二条

企业因受疫情影响导致生产经营困难的，可以通过与职工协商一致采取调整薪酬、轮岗轮休、缩短工时等方式稳定工作岗位，尽量不裁员或者少裁员。符合条件的企业，可按规定享受稳岗补贴。企业停工停产在一个工资支付周期内的，企业应按劳动合同规定的标准支付职工工资。超过一个工资支付周期的，若职工提供了正常劳动，企业支付给职工的工资不得低于当地最低工资标准。职工没有提供正常劳动的，企业应当发放生活费，生活费标准按各省、自治区、直辖市规定的办法执行。







