Brief facts of the case
Plaintiff C joined the R&D department of Company E in early 2018, and the two parties signed an employment contract. At the beginning of 2021, the R&D department of Company E was separated into E1 Company, the office location remained unchanged, and the salaries and ranks of all employees in the R&D department of the original Company E remained unchanged. However, due to some objective reasons, it was not until the end of 2021 that C signed a labor contract with E1 for a period of three years. In July 2022, due to the epidemic, C received an email from E1 Company to unilaterally terminate the employment relationship. The content is generally that the company has difficulties in operation, and due to major changes in the objective circumstances on which the labor contract was concluded, it decided to terminate the labor relationship. The labor relationship will end at the end of June 2022, and the compensation will be 10,000 yuan. C argues that E1 Company illegally terminated the labor contract and should pay compensation for the illegal termination of the labor contract.
Plaintiff C's claim is to order the defendant E1 to pay compensation for the illegal termination of the labor contract.
Trial Opinions
The defendant, E1, argued that the defendant had legally terminated the employment relationship with the plaintiff due to a major change in the objective circumstances, and had negotiated with the plaintiff through communication software, and had fulfilled its obligation to negotiate and change the content of the labor contract, and that it was not illegally terminated. Moreover, the plaintiff signed an employment contract with the plaintiff at the end of 2021, and the amount of compensation demanded by the plaintiff was inconsistent with the actual amount.
Court hearing: At the end of 2021, C joined E1 company. In July 2022, E1 Company notified C by email, informing that "due to the impact of the epidemic, the company's production and operation have fallen into serious difficulties, and due to major changes in the objective circumstances on which the labor contract was concluded, the company's management team has decided to dissolve the R&D department and terminate the labor relationship of the employees of the R&D department after careful consideration." The labor relationship will end at the end of June 2022, and the compensation will be 10,000 yuan. ”
Article 40 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates that if there is a major change in the objective circumstances on which the labor contract is concluded, resulting in the inability to perform the labor contract, and the employer and the employee fail to reach an agreement on changing the content of the labor contract after negotiation, the employer may terminate the labor contract after giving 30 days' written notice to the employee or paying the employee an additional month's salary.
In this case, the defendant notified the plaintiff to terminate the employment relationship in July 2022 on the grounds that there had been a significant change in the objective circumstances, but the defendant did not provide evidence to prove that it had negotiated with the plaintiff on changing the content of the employment contract. Although the defendant asserted that it had negotiated with the plaintiff to terminate the employment relationship, this situation did not fall within the scope of negotiation to modify the labor contract as prescribed by law. Therefore, this court affirmed that the defendant illegally terminated the employment relationship with the plaintiff and should pay the plaintiff compensation for the illegal termination of the labor contract.
Verdict
Judgment: Plaintiff C's claim was upheld.
Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 34 In the event of a merger or division of an employer, the original labor contract shall continue to be valid, and the labor contract shall continue to be performed by the employer that inherits its rights and obligations.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (Fa Shi 2001 No. 14).
Article 10 Where an employer merges with another unit, the merged unit shall be the party to the labor dispute that occurred before the mergerIf an employer is divided into several units, the actual employer after the division shall be the party to the labor disputes that occurred before the division.
After an employer is divided into several units, if it is not clear to the unit that bears the labor rights and obligations, the units after the division are all parties.
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 67: Where legal persons are merged, their rights and obligations are enjoyed and borne by the merged legal person.
Where a legal person is divided, its rights and obligations shall be jointly and severally obligated by the legal person after the division, unless otherwise agreed upon by the creditor and the debtor.
In practice, mergers and divisions of employers are often prone to give rise to problems in labor disputes. In order to prevent some employers from taking advantage of mergers and divisions to evade their obligations to employees, we need to establish a sound labor dispute mediation and settlement mechanism to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of employees are protected to the greatest extent. At the same time, we also need to strengthen legal aid for workers to help them protect their legitimate rights and interests.
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