Man Fired for Refusing to Promote Company on Own Wechat Moment
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A hospital driver in Chongqing has prevailed in court against his previous employer, who sacked him and reduced his pay for failing to promote the facility on his personal WeChat moments.
The hospital was mandated by the Chongqing High People’s Court to refund the driver’s deducted earnings of 10,000 yuan ($1,445) as well as roughly 50,810 yuan in restitution for the termination of their contract without authorization.
Since 2013, the driver, who only went by the name Chen, has served as a contract driver for the maternity facility. In 2017, the hospital gave its staff the directive to share content about its commercial promotions on WeChat at regular intervals.
The monthly salary of those who disobeyed will be reduced by 200 yuan. From July 2017 to August 2021, Chen had a total of 10,000 yuan taken out of his account.
On August 30, 2021, the hospital terminated Chen’s contract, claiming that he had not forwarded business promotion links in his moments, failed to follow company regulations, and neglected assigned tasks. Chen took the matter to court after both parties expressed dissatisfaction with arbitration.
The court determined that employers should discuss workers’ vital interest-related regulations, such as remuneration, rest, vacation, and hours, with all employees or during worker congress.
Regulations should be developed through a democratic process, which the hospital did not follow when it asked workers to promote links on WeChat moments.
The court ruled that the hospital’s notice was not a legal regulation, as it was issued in the name of the general manager’s office meeting, which cannot replace employee representative meetings.
The court also emphasized that employees have the right to decide independently on the information they publish on WeChat moments, and employers should not illegally interfere with this right.
Thus, the maternity hospital could not legally demand its workers to promote links on their WeChat moments, nor could they legally terminate their labor contracts or cut their wages for not complying.
Ding Hanqing, a lawyer with Shanghai Allbright Law Offices Chongqing branch, said, “As the court held that WeChat moments are a strong personal domain, an employer’s request to an employee to post a designated WeChat moment should not normally be considered legal work content, and the employee has the right to refuse the employer’s request.”
Mao Yang, a Chongqing-based private training center teacher, mentioned that his friends frequently forward their company’s links on WeChat moments. However, since WeChat plays an important role in work, many individuals create separate accounts for work purposes.
Source: China daily
*The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author.*
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