Why are you willing to accept mediation?, People working in Shanghai encounter labor disputes, such as layoffs and wage arrears | labor | mediation

When facing the HR manager of her former employer again, Ms. Li was able to communicate calmly with the other party.

Just two months ago, her contract expired and the company no longer renewed it, requiring her to take the vacation she didn't take last year before leaving. She asked: Can it be converted into salary? The company refused. Ms. Li, who was infuriated, came to the Labor Dispute Mediation Center in Beiwaitan Street, Hongkou District to file a complaint.

"Don't worry, your situation is not complicated." After verifying and understanding, mediator Shen Xiaofeng repeatedly negotiated with the company and finally convinced them to pay Ms. Li's annual leave salary. On the day of the meeting, both parties confirmed the accuracy of the compensation amount and solemnly signed the agreement. Ms. Li said that the mediation result met her expectations and "I am very grateful for Ms. Shen's efforts.".

Mediation like this is an important way to handle labor disputes. In recent years, Shanghai has adhered to and developed the "Fengqiao Experience" of the new era, focusing on sinking the focus of labor dispute resolution work, and empowering and increasing efficiency in resolving labor disputes in streets and towns. At present, 215 street and town mediation organizations have been fully covered, and a diversified labor dispute mediation organization system has been established with professional mediation organizations in the street and town as the main focus, supplemented by mediation organizations in enterprises, industries, parks, buildings, commercial districts, and other areas, and the participation of relevant social forces, striving to resolve more labor disputes at the beginning.

Rigidity and flexibility

In the basic procedure of "negotiation mediation arbitration litigation" for handling labor disputes, negotiation mediation is a more front-end and flexible way of handling, which is conducive to coordinating and safeguarding the rights and interests of workers and the development of enterprises. However, in reality, once a labor dispute occurs, the parties often hold their breath and choose to solve the problem through arbitration, facing rigid laws.

The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau said that in order to better play the fundamental role of mediation in the process of labor dispute resolution, strive for flexible resolution of disputes, and resolve more conflicts and disputes at the grassroots level, Shanghai has piloted comprehensive guidance and mediation work in three phases since 2015, and it was fully launched throughout the city in 2018.

The so-called "pre mediation" refers to strengthening the publicity and guidance before the arbitration case, and adopting supporting measures to smooth the process of mediation connection, guiding the parties to resolve disputes more through mediation. On this basis, Shanghai fully launched mediation organization collection and arbitration application work in 2019. If the street and town mediation fails, the mediation organization will directly collect the arbitration application materials, saving the parties from the burden of traveling back and forth. Under multiple measures, the willingness of labor dispute parties to accept mediation has greatly increased.

The North Bund, surrounded by towering buildings and the sound of pile drivers, is home to a large number of commercial buildings and construction sites. There are many white-collar workers and migrant workers, resulting in diversified and increasingly complex labor relations in the jurisdiction. Jin Jing, Vice President of the Hongkou District Labor Dispute Arbitration Court, introduced that for white-collar workers, common labor disputes include termination of contracts, payment of remuneration, etc., while migrant workers often suffer from unpaid wages. To this end, the North Bund Mediation Center has successively established the "North Bund Harmonious Labor Home Workstation" and "North Bund Builders' Home" in the Baiyulan Square Business Building and Citizen Post Station, to maintain harmonious and stable regional labor relations.

North Bund Builders Home

Just last year, a migrant worker at a construction site found the North Bund Builder's Home through a mediation brochure. Originally, some of the construction projects on the construction site were subcontracted to another company. Due to delayed completion dates and cost overruns, the general contractor and subcontractors shifted the blame to each other, and more than 180 migrant workers were owed wages. Mediator Xiao Shi recalled that the situation was very chaotic at the time, and conflicts were about to erupt. The North Bund Mediation Center immediately activated a group incident warning mechanism, and Xiaoshi and colleagues investigated the situation and repeatedly summoned all parties to the builder's home for face-to-face mediation. After multiple rounds of negotiations, all parties finally reached a consensus, and a certain engineering limited company paid a total of more than 1.8 million yuan in wages.

The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau stated that in recent years, with the high growth in the number of labor dispute cases, the proportion of mediation organizations leading mediation cases has increased from less than 40% to over 60%. "It can be said that as the main force of grassroots mediation work, street and town mediation organizations have played a significant role in maintaining harmonious and stable labor relations.".

Before and after the event

The WeChat account of Zhang Yirong, a staff member of the mediation center in Tianshan Road Street, Changning District, was packed with thousands of enterprise personnel leaders and workers. For the convenience of consultation and communication, he also established two WeChat groups with a total of over 800 people, and most of the personnel responsible for card building enterprises in the jurisdiction are in the groups. As long as there is any sign of dispute, Zhang Yirong will proactively inquire to avoid further escalation of the conflict.

Zhang Yirong is currently conducting mediation

Based on the advantages of going deep into the front line and being close to the grassroots, street and town mediation organizations are not only the main channels for resolving labor disputes, but also can resolve conflicts in the bud through early intervention and source governance. For example, the mediation centers in Chedun Town and Xinqiao Town of Songjiang District have established a three-level warning mechanism based on factors such as the amount and duration of unpaid wages of enterprises, visualizing the risk of personnel disputes in enterprises; The mediation center of Beizhan Street in Jing'an District has carried out activities such as HR salons and "Suhe Enterprise Exchange" to promote the establishment of a harmonious employment concept in enterprises through case interpretation and law enforcement; In response to the frequent labor disputes in the express logistics industry and new formats, Shanghai has set up mediation organizations in areas where the express logistics industry is more concentrated and leading enterprises in new formats, and a large number of disputes have been resolved at the source.

Located adjacent to Hongqiao International Central Business District and Caohejing Development Zone, Hongqiao Town in Minhang District mainly engages in commercial retail and modern services. Qu Yeping, Director of the Community Affairs Acceptance Service Center in Hongqiao Town, introduced that 15 grassroots labor security workstations in the town have set up "mobile mediation rooms" to extend the reach of mediation work to the front lines of buildings and parks, so as to timely prevent and resolve labor relationship risks. Previously, the mediator learned during his visit that a clothing company in a park was about to move to another place. He immediately found the person in charge of the enterprise, communicated with the employee resettlement plan for many times, listened to the opinions of the employee representatives, and promoted the two parties to reach an agreement. Finally, more than 200 employees were properly resettled.

In addition to pre intervention, post follow-up visits and assistance are also important links in Shanghai's exploration of resolving grassroots conflicts and disputes. In order to ensure the implementation of the applicant's appeal, the Tianshan Road Mediation Center has established a tracking and follow-up system. Zhang Yirong said that for cases where there is an installment payment agreement in the mediation agreement, "we will keep track of follow-up visits and work records to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved.".

In many cases where the parties involved have been dismissed, Qu Yeping observed that "both young and middle-aged people will experience a certain sense of frustration.". To this end, Hongqiao Town has established the "Heartfelt Hongqiao" Leye Mediation Studio, providing workers with "one person, one file", dispute mediation, legal consultation, career guidance, job recommendations, unemployment insurance, skill training, entrepreneurship guidance and other full module services.

37 year old deaf mute Xiao Qiu is an illustrator. Previously, he worked as a design worker in a certain enterprise in Hongqiao Town. Later, the company decided to terminate his employment relationship with him, but was unwilling to pay economic compensation. The mediator intervened promptly upon learning of the situation, and in the end, the company paid the compensation according to regulations. Xiao Qiu was also recommended by the mediator to work at a certain decoration company.

"We adhere to the synchronization of labor rights protection and employment assistance, hoping to alleviate the anxiety of workers and show them hope to return to the workplace, which in turn can promote their rational rights protection." Qu Yeping analyzed that when workers have a new job, it is easier for them to sit down and have a calm conversation with their "old employer", which helps to solve labor conflicts smoothly. In her view, the seamless connection between early warning and investigation, conflict resolution, and employment assistance also means that grassroots mediation work has shifted from passive to proactive, promoting the overall efficiency of mediation work.

A mediation is currently underway at the Community Affairs Acceptance Service Center in Hongqiao Town

"New Bottle" and "Old Wine"

Open the "Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security" app, click on the mediation and arbitration module, and the parties can apply for mediation online without leaving their homes. The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau introduced that the vast majority of cases will be assigned to mediation organizations in various streets and towns for processing. At present, online application for mediation has become one of the main ways for labor dispute parties to apply for rights protection in this city.

At the same time, labor dispute mediation and arbitration institutions at all levels in the city are actively exploring such a "non-contact, non face-to-face" fast resolution mode. In March of this year, the Minhang Smart Labor Rights Protection Platform was officially launched. After receiving the cases distributed by the platform, the mediation, arbitration, and supervision departments of the Minhang District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau "take action immediately", and workers can participate in mediation or arbitration remotely through mobile and PC terminals, saving a lot of time and costs on the way, which is very convenient.

However, sometimes "new bottles" still need to be filled with "old wine", and the old traditions and good experiences of mediation work are not outdated. In the current era of increasing pressure on labor dispute cases, they are particularly precious.

Jin Jing said that in the face of complex labor disputes in reality, which ones require "face-to-face" mediation and which ones require "back-to-back" mediation, test the judgment of mediators. More importantly, only with enough patience and sincerity can one unravel the emotional knots of the parties involved. There was once a story where the parties involved cried and shared their experiences, and the mediator also shed tears along with them... Jin Jing sighed that this approach of empathizing first and reasoning later often makes it easier to break communication barriers.

As the gold medal coordinator of labor relations in Shanghai, Zhang Yirong jokingly called his work tips "brushing his face". He is either receiving the parties or visiting the enterprises every day, and even publicizing the information of the "small chapter hotline" on the "with the bid" to coordinate and handle all kinds of labor disputes. Relying on the human feelings accumulated over the years, sometimes when he came forward, the two sides of the dispute, which had become a "dead game", suddenly had room for maneuver.

Of course, mediation is not just about playing emotional cards. Only through fair handling can we truly protect the rights of both parties. Zhang Yirong told reporters that in recent years, the awareness of workers in safeguarding their rights has become stronger, and mediators have continuously improved their professional skills in practice. The standardization and professionalism of mediation organizations have continued to improve.

The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security stated that Shanghai will continue to adhere to the resolution of labor and personnel disputes with Chinese characteristics, develop the "Fengqiao Experience" of the new era, follow the policy of "prevention first, grassroots first, mediation first", continue the idea of "shifting the focus forward and sinking the focus", further play the role of internal communication and negotiation mechanisms of employers, build a diversified and co governance dispute handling pattern, and resolve more disputes at the grassroots and embryonic levels.