"The salary of working hours in summer vacation is as low as 6 yuan", "Looking for a part-time job and being cheated by a black intermediary" and "Being dismissed without pay for a few days on trial" … Recently, there have been frequent reports on the Internet that students’ summer jobs have been unfairly treated, and some hourly wages have been maliciously depressed by a black intermediary to the staggering 6 yuan; Some were defrauded of agency fees as high as 400 yuan …
It’s summer vacation, and many students in school take enough time to step into social practice, aiming at self-reliance, reducing family economic pressure and accumulating social experience. However, this journey, which should be full of growth and harvest, has been repeatedly "pitted". What is going on?
The salary of working hours in summer vacation is as low as that in 6 yuan. Netizen: "I’m honest, I’d better lie at home."
Recently, the topic of "Exposing summer vacation hours to low wages in 6 yuan" in Weibo has rushed to the hot search. According to media reports, informed intermediaries revealed that many "black intermediaries" would first attract a large number of summer workers with high salaries as bait, and then lied that the original high-paying factories were full and needed to be transferred to other factories, with salaries ranging from 6 to 9 yuan. As a result, many students can only enter the factory with low salary because they have no return travel expenses.
News reporters who read special articles search for "part-time jobs" on a recruitment software, but there are few types of jobs, most of which involve catering and factories, and the hourly salary is around 20-25 yuan. And most of the employment requirements will be marked with "unlimited experience", "unlimited academic qualifications" and "summer workers".
Screenshot of the recruitment platform.
Some netizens spit out, "Just do it for the summer vacation, and keep silent, so cheap that you doubt life!" Some netizens shared their "hard working and living environment" after entering the factory and shouted: "I’m honest, I’d better lie at home." Some netizens pointed out that why is this "black intermediary" repeatedly banned? You can see this kind of news every summer vacation.
Screenshot of social platform.
It is understood that many factories will face the seasonal peak of employment and the surge of orders. At this time, the demand for employment ranges from thousands to tens of thousands. Especially when the order volume increases sharply, it is obviously not enough to rely solely on the human resources department within the factory to complete the recruitment task. In this case, the factory will find a human resources intermediary to recruit. This also gives some "black-hearted intermediaries" the opportunity to drill "loopholes".
There are many routines for summer workers to be "pitted"
According to the news reporters who read special articles, many enterprises will not recruit summer workers because of the nature of "temporary workers", and various factories with great demand for temporary employees have become the first choice for many students to take part-time jobs.
Xiao Xiao (a pseudonym), a senior three graduate, told a journalist that when she was looking for a part-time job in a factory on the recruitment platform, the hourly wage promised by the intermediary was 18 yuan. After making an appointment with the intermediary for an interview, the other party asked her to bring her luggage to the interview site, otherwise she could not arrange a job for her. "I thought it was strange, but I was in a hurry to find a part-time job and the hourly salary was not bad, so I didn’t think much." Xiao Xiao told reporters that her doubts were confirmed after arriving at the interview site. The agent suddenly changed his mind, saying that due to the change in the factory, the promised hourly wage was greatly reduced to 10 yuan. "It was here that I realized why he asked us to bring our luggage, so it was too much trouble for us to leave temporarily, and we were all students, so there was no toll to go back so far from home." Xiao Xiao said that in the end, several students around her were forced to accept this low-paying job.
Some netizens shared the process of being cheated by a "black-hearted intermediary" on social platforms.
According to the search of special news reporters, some students are looking for factory summer workers on the recruitment software, and they have to pay the 200 yuan referral fee to the intermediary before the interview. After entering the factory, the student was asked to pay fees including work clothes and physical examination. A set of procedures cost nearly 400 yuan, and the salary at the beginning of the agreement was reduced to 10 yuan. In the end, the student recovered all the expenses after calling the police.
Xiaolin (a pseudonym), a student who just graduated from high school, told a journalist that after she successfully interviewed a company, HR told her that she needed a seven-day training, and no salary would be paid during this training period. Xiaolin started training after signing a contract confirming that she was unpaid during the training period. However, after a few days of training, the company boss dismissed her on the grounds that she didn’t need a summer job and refused to pay any salary. "In fact, our training is to officially get started, and as a result, we have been dismissed after working for a few days without money. Isn’t this pure and white?" Xiaolin said helplessly.
How to protect the rights and interests of summer workers?
In response to the phenomenon of "black intermediary", Chyi Chin, a partner of Beijing Daokete (Shenzhen) Law Firm, said in an interview with a journalist that this kind of behavior of offering low-paid jobs with high salaries actually violates the provisions of Article 58 of the Regulations on Employment Services and Employment Management, and there is suspicion of providing false employment information and conducting professional intermediary activities by fraud.
As for the company’s requirement to sign a "no pay during training" contract, Chyi Chin said that in practice, students seek summer jobs, not for the purpose of employment. The establishment of labour relation by students and employers is not a labor relationship, and the rights and obligations of both parties are regulated by the Civil Code, not by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Labor Law and other labor laws and regulations. Therefore, even if the contract signed by both parties stipulates unpaid training, but the agreement conforms to the standard clauses stipulated in Article 497 of the Civil Code and excludes the main rights of workers, then there are reasons for the "unpaid" contract to be deemed invalid.
"Summer workers enjoy corresponding labor rights and benefits." Chyi Chin stressed that summer workers must be at least 16 years old, and the company must not use child labor. Summer vacation workers are different from internships arranged by colleges and universities, and in practice, most regional arbitration institutions may not handle them according to labor relations. However, according to the principle of fairness, summer workers bear similar job responsibilities and working hours as regular employees, and should enjoy corresponding labor rights and benefits.
In view of the problem of the proliferation of black intermediaries, Chyi Chin said that professional intermediaries need to apply for an administrative license from the administrative department of labor and social security separately before they can engage in related business. Institutions that are not licensed and registered according to law shall not engage in professional intermediary activities. The administrative department of labor and social security can establish an inspection mechanism after the event, supervise the intermediary institutions to operate in compliance with the law, and increase the investigation and punishment of corresponding illegal activities. If a professional intermediary agency is suspected of violating the criminal law, the public security organ shall perform its duties according to law and file a case for investigation.
Chyi Chin reminded that in case of the same situation, students can seek help from the administrative department of labor and social security after being cheated, and the supervision department will intervene to urge the rectification. If summer workers suffer a high amount of loss, they can actively negotiate with the "black intermediary" and sue for rights protection in time if necessary.