外资企业劳动法问题part3CnEn20111123

1、外资企业劳动法常见问题FAQs Concerning Foreign-funded Enterprises under the PRC Labor Laws接上期。Continued from Part II11、劳动合同的解除因并购或业务调整引发的劳动合同解除Dissolution of Labor ContractDissolution Caused by Merger or Business Adjustment劳动合同法规定，因客观情况发生重大变化，致使劳动合同无法履行，经用人单位与劳动者协商，未能就变更劳动合同达成协议的，用人单位提前三十日以书面形式通知劳动者本人或者额外支付一个月工

2、资后，可以解除劳动合同。实践中较为常见的争议是，因并购或业务发生调整，应否属于客观情况发生重大变化；进一步，如果因此导致劳动合同不能继续履行，企业是否可以解除合同。Labor Contract Law stipulates that if the objective situation has changed considerably, and the labor contract is unable to be performed and no agreement on changing the contents of the labor contract is reached after

3、negotiations between the employer and the employee, the employer may dissolve the labor contract if it notifies the employee in writing 30 days in advance or after it pays the employee an extra month's wages. In practice, the common discrepancy is whether the merger or business adjustment is an

4、objective situation which changed considerably; or further on, whether such labor contract is unable to be performed or whether the employer can dissolve the labor contract. 根据劳动部关于<中华人民共和国劳动法>若干条文的说明的规定，目前劳动法司法实践中接受的所谓“客观情况”指：发生不可抗力或出现致使劳动合同全部或部分条款无法履行的其他情况，如企业迁移、被兼并、企业资产转移等，并且排除“用人单位濒临破产进行法定

5、整顿期间或者生产经营状况发生严重困难”的情形。但除此之外的“客观情况”的判断标准仍没有清晰界定。According to the regulations of Explanations of Several Clauses of the Labor Law of the Peoples Republic of China issued by the Labor Department, the objective situations currently recognized in the judicial practice refers to: force majeure or other s

6、ituations which cause all or part of clauses of the labor contract cannot be performed, such as company relocation, merger, asset transfer etc, with exclusion of the situation that the employer comes to the brink of bankruptcy or when it runs deep into difficulties in business. Except for the above

7、regulations, there is no further express regulation on definition of “objective situations”.实践中有观点认为，客观情况的界定应以“非管理层主观因素”为标准，如企业并购，合并、分立等，此类情形并非企业管理层主观方面原因造成，而是由于投资并购的客观原因导致，一般属于客观情况；而关于业务调整导致的岗位取消，应根据取消的原因界定，如果是管理层单方决定或所谓“根据发展需要”决定取消部门，则一般理解为非客观情况。这种情况下企业难以因此解除劳动合同。In practice, it is believed that t

8、he objective situation shall adopt the standard of “non subjective reason of management”. For example, company merger, acquisition and division is a objective situation which is not caused by subjective reason of management, but caused by objective reasons of investment and acquisition; whether the

9、cancel of position due to business adjustment is an objective situation shall be judged by the reasons for such cancel, if the cancel is determined unilaterally by the management with the reason of “development needs”, it shall be regarded as non objective situation, therefore, the employer is not e

10、ntitled to dissolve the labor contract under such situation. 12、劳动合同的解除因违纪解除Dissolution of Labor ContractDissolution due to Violation of Rules 劳动合同法规定，对于严重违反规章制度的员工，单位可以解除与其的劳动合同。但关于“严重违反”的标准法律上并无明确的规定。通常认为，由于此处的“严重违反”关系到用人单位可以解除劳动合同，因此该违反必须要严重到一定程度，这就需要单位在规章制度上对各种违纪行为及相应处罚措施，既要“罪责刑”相适应，又要有一个处罚措施从轻到

11、重的渐进过程。此外，该标准的设立应能使独立于用人单位和职工的第三方（包括仲裁员和法官），从一个理性的善良管理人角度看待处罚时，认为违纪的处罚措施合理。Labor Contract Law stipulates that an employer may dissolve the labor contract of an employee if such employee seriously violates the rules and procedures set up by the employer. However, the definition of “serious violation”

12、 is not expressly stipulates by law. It is generally believed that because the extent of “serious” will affect the right of an employer to dissolve the labor contract, such violation shall be materially serious to certain extent, and the rules shall stipulate various violations and corresponding pun

13、itive measures, and ensure the violation is consistent with the responsibility and the punitive measures, which shall become more and more severe appropriate to the serious extent of the violation conduct. In addition, such standard shall make sure a third party (including arbitrator and judge) who

14、is independent from the employer and employee will think the punitive measures are reasonable.因此，最为有效的方式即是用人单位在规章制度中对严重程度进行量化和列举化，从而达到使规章标准具体化的目的，以利于解雇员工时有充分依据。企业规章制度不仅仅在管理过程中扮演着极其重要的角色，同时也是企业在劳动争议中制胜的关键所在。规范的规章制度可以使企业在劳动争议处理中把握主动权，降低败诉的风险。Therefore, the most effective method is to specify the diffe

15、rent levels of violation and list the violation conducts in detail so that it can be directly used as the basis for dissolving a labor contract. The company rules shall not only play an important role in the company management, but also shall be a decisive element for winning a labor dispute. A good

16、 rule may make the company to take the initiative in a labor dispute and to reduce the risk of losing a labor dispute.除有具体的规章制度标准外，对于“严重违反”的证据收集也谓为重要，司法实践中，通常解雇案件实行举证责任倒置，即企业要举证证明自己的解雇理由是充分确凿的，所以在解雇严重违纪员工之前必须收集充分的证据。可以作为证据：违纪员工的“检讨书”、“悔过书”、“求情书”、“申辩书”、违纪情况说明；有违纪员工本人签字的违纪记录、处罚通知书；其他员工及知情者的证词；有关事件涉及的物

17、证、照片、视听资料等；Besides concrete standard of rules, it is also very important to collect evidence of “material violation” of the employee. In judicial practice, the dissolution dispute applies the principle of onus proof conversi. This is to say, the employer shall provide evidence to prove that its diss

18、olution is based on sufficient evidence. Therefore, the employer shall collect enough evidence before dissolving the labor contract of the employee who is seriously violates the rules. The following materials can be used as evidence: self-examination letter, letter of apology, application letter, de

19、fending letter, violation statement; violation record and punitive notification signed by the violation employee; testimony of other employees and insider; material evidence, photo and video documents proving the violation.13、劳动合同的解除-经济补偿金上限问题Dissolution of Labor Contract-Upper Limit of Economic Com

20、pensation劳动合同法规定，对于高收入员工（一般指月工资高于本地区上年度职工月平均工资3倍），支付经济补偿金的数额不得高于本地区上年度职工月平均工资3倍的上限，最高不超过12年年限。同时，根据劳动合同法48条规定，企业违法解除劳动者合同需给予双倍经济赔偿。因此，如果是依法可以单方解除劳动合同并需要支付补偿金的情形，单位可以按照法律规定的限额进行支付。但在双方协商解除的情况下，双方可以就补偿金数额进行自由约定。Labor Contract Law stipulates that if the monthly wage of an employee is higher than three

21、times the average monthly wage of employees of the local area for the previous calendar year, the rate for the economic compensations to be paid to him shall be three times the average monthly wage of employees and shall be for no more than 12 years of his work. In addition, according to Article 48

22、of the Labor Contract Law, if an employer illegally dissolves or terminates a labor contract, the employer shall pay two times of the economic compensations. Therefore, if an employer is entitled to terminate the labor contract unilaterally and need to pay the economic compensation, the employer may

23、 pay the economic compensation within the limit prescribed by law. However, if the labor contract is dissolved based on the negotiation of the two parties, the amount of economic compensation shall also be freely agreed. 此外，对于很多外企来说，通常会在劳动合同中事先约定一个补偿金标准，或者是违约金标准。实践中需要注意的是，这样的事先约定，如果低于国家标准，则会按照国家标准执行

24、；但如果高于国家标准，在发生劳动争议时，裁决机构会从照顾劳动者利益原则出发，按照更高的标准要求单位支付补偿金或者违约金，单位以国家有补偿标准或者有限额为准主张合同约定无效将不会被得到支持。In addition, for many foreign invested enterprises, the standard for economic compensation or for damages for breach of contract is usually agreed in the labor contract. In practice, it needs to be noted th

25、at if the agreed amount is less than the prescribed national standard, the national standard shall prevail; if it is higher than the prescribed national standard, the arbitration committee may, for the benefit of the employee, require the employer to pay the economic compensation or damages accordin

26、g to the higher standard in a labor dispute. The allegation that the amount shall be lower according to the national standard or compensation limit may not be supported. 14、竞业限制问题Non Competition随着商业秘密性重要性对各类企业特别是高科技企业和大型跨国企业的不断提高，劳动合同法规定的竞业限制制度越来越受到企业的重视，相对于事后追究员工和第三方单位侵犯商业秘密责任的消极性来说，竞业限制制度是对员工可能发生的

27、泄密行为积极进行事前预防，具有明显的优势。With the continuingly improving importance of trade secrets to all kinds of enterprises, especially to the high-tech enterprise and large multinational enterprises, the non competition regulations prescribed by the Labor Contract Law is getting more and more attention from the e

28、nterprises. Compared to bring a claim against employee or third party for infringing trade secrets after the infringement has occurred, it has an obvious advantage in preventing disclosure of trade secrets by employees by restricting such employee by non-competition agreement. 适用竞业限制制度时，一般要注意的事项包括，企

29、业应当与员工签订书面协议对竞业限制事项进行约定，协议中应当明确约定竞业限制的期限、地域和行业范围、竞业限制补偿金的支付等内容，并应明确员工违约应当承担的违约责任，以便在员工违约时，企业能够提出强有力的权利要求保护自己的合法权益。When applying the non-competition regulations, it shall be noted that the employer and the employee shall sign an written non competition agreement which shall specify the period, territ

30、ory, industry scope of non competition and corresponding compensation to employees in advance, and shall specify the liability for breach of contract of the employee, so that when the employee breach the agreement, the employer has the right to bring a claim to protect its legal rights and benefits.

31、 另外，如何认定劳动者是否违反了竞业限制约定，并进而追究其违约责任，这是确保竞业限制制度起到作用的一个重要的问题。一般来说，证明劳动者违反竞业限制义务的证据有：劳动者与新单位（同行业）的劳动合同；新单位为劳动者缴纳社会保险的证明；劳动者以新单位代理人的名义签订的工作合同；工资证明；电话公证、现场公证进行证据保全；新单位为其缴纳个人所得税证明；劳动者在新单位的名片；劳动者在新单位网站、宣传册或单位其他载体上的记载等，同时还可以以其他证人证言，录音证据等来佐证劳动者从事与本单位有竞争关系的业务这一事实。In addition, to ensure the non-competition regul

32、ations to play an affirmative role, it is an important question on how to determine whether the employee violates the non-competition agreement and therefore to require the employee to undertake the liability for breach of contract. Generally speaking, the evidence for proving an employee violating

33、non-competition obligations includes: labor contract between the employee with his new employer; voucher of social insurance premium paid by the new employer, pay sheet, notarization of phone calls, notarization of on-site presence, tax certificates proving the new employer paying individual income

34、tax for the employee; name card indicating the employees new employer; information of the employee recorded on the website, publication materials or other documents. Besides, a testimony or sound recording evidence can also be used to prove the employee is engaging in business in competition with th

35、e employer. 15、用人单位制定规章制度的民主程序Democratic Procedures for Formulating Rules of Employers 按照劳动合同法第四条的制度要求，用人单位在制定、修改或者决定涉及劳动者切身利益的规章制度或者重大事项时，应当经职工代表大会或者全体职工讨论，提出方案和意见，与工会或者职工代表平等协商确定。根据该条原则性规定，通常认为，民主程序分两个阶段：1、召开职工大会或者代表大会讨论，提出方案和意见；2、进一步或与工会协商，或与职工代表协商确定。According to Article 4 of Labor Contract Law,

36、where an employer formulates, amends or decides rules or important events which are directly related to the interests of the employees, such rules or important events shall be discussed at the meeting of employees' representatives or the general meeting of all employees, and the employer shall a

37、lso put forward proposals and opinions to the employees and negotiate with the labor union or the employees' representatives on a equal basis to reach agreements on these rules or events. Based on the foregoing principle regulation, it is generally believed that democratic procedures shall consist of the following two steps: 1. hold meeting of employees' representatives or the general meeting of all employees to discuss the rules and put forward p