● In the express delivery industry, "escrow by penalty" is widespread. In the face of malicious complaints, regardless of whether the courier is responsible or not, the courier company will generally ask the courier to pay a fine. Some lawyers believe that this is an unreasonable deduction of wages and violates the relevant provisions of the labor law.
● To protect the courier’s labor remuneration right, we should start from two aspects: one is to change the wage model and increase the basic salary income; Second, the courier company establishes a complaint investigation mechanism, clarifies the responsible person, and puts an end to punishing the courier for maintaining the company’s image, regardless of right or wrong.
● The express delivery industry involves many departments such as transportation, industry and commerce, urban management, human resources and social resources. In order to seize the market, many express delivery companies adopt the franchise mode, and each franchise store and outlet is responsible for its own profits and losses, without paying attention to the interests and development of employees. Therefore, the relevant departments should strictly supervise the express delivery companies to regulate and rationally employ workers, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of couriers.
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Intern of this newspaper Qi Zengbei
The "double 11" shopping festival has come to an end, but the express delivery industry is accepting the challenge. Because the "baby" placed by consumers has to be delivered by couriers in the near future.
The State Post Bureau predicted that during the "double 11" shopping festival this year, the business volume of express mail handled by the whole industry will reach 2.8 billion pieces, and the peak period will last from November 11th to 18th, with an average daily handling capacity of 350 million pieces, more than twice the daily handling capacity.
On November 8, the Party Committee of the State Post Bureau issued 11 key tips to the Party organizations at all levels of the postal management system and the headquarters of express delivery enterprises on strengthening the protection of the rights and interests of couriers and caring for them during the "double 11" period, requiring all units to strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of couriers and caring for them while ensuring the quality of express delivery services in the peak season.
During the "double 11" period, how did the courier work? What is the implementation of their rights and interests protection? The "Legal Daily" reporter recently interviewed this.
Distribution packages pile up into mountains
Express brother is afraid of complaints
"Don’t say smoke a cigarette, there is no time to say more." At a courier service station near Communication University of China, a courier told the reporter of Legal Daily while sending a text message. He is informing the recipient that he has left the parcel at the express service station.
Recently, the "Legal Daily" reporter visited a number of express service stations, express outlets and rookie stations, and found that express parcels in these places piled up into hills. Although people keep coming to pick up the pieces, the number is still not decreasing.
"These days, send thousands of eight hundred orders every day, sometimes even busy until the early morning, from 7 o’clock in the morning to late at night, and you can’t be idle for a moment. Although the boss will find several temporary workers whenever the express delivery volume increases, the express delivery volume is too large, so it is still very busy. " Wang Xing (pseudonym), a courier of a courier company, told the Legal Daily reporter, "It doesn’t matter if you are busy, because you earn a lot. Although there is no overtime pay, many people voluntarily work overtime. After all, wages are calculated according to the amount of orders sent and the amount of receipts. In other words, the more you send, the more you receive, and the more you earn. "
However, although Wang Xing and his colleagues keep on calling, they will still get many calls from recipients, or ask or blame "Why did it show up in the morning and it hasn’t been delivered at night?"
For these calls, Wang Xing usually explains patiently. What he is most afraid of is not calling him, but complaining directly to outlets, companies and even post offices. As long as the consumer’s complaint is deemed reasonable, the courier will be fined.
According to Wang Xing, complaints are graded: if complaints are made to the outlet where the courier is located, the boss will generally give a verbal warning or call the courier to promptly negotiate with the recipient, and there will be no fine; If the complaint goes to the branch, the courier and the recipient are satisfied with the result of negotiation, and they will not be fined. If they are not satisfied, they will be fined tens of yuan. The specific amount is different for each courier company. If the complaint goes to the provincial company, no matter how it is handled in the end, the fine in 100 yuan is inevitable.
"The income from sending a single order is 1 yuan. If you are complained to a provincial company, according to the amount of orders sent on weekdays, one day is basically in vain." Wang Xing said that this is not the most serious thing. If you are complained to the post office and the relevant evidence presented by the recipient is reasonable, then the fine for this order is 2,000 yuan. When it hits the off-season, it will be done in vain for half a month.
Express collection leads to complaints
Can’t afford to lose a piece.
"There are many reasons for the courier to be complained. The most common one is that the courier privately puts the parcel at the rookie station or the collection point." Li Li (pseudonym), who has worked as a courier in several courier companies, told the reporter of Legal Daily.
"Now many communities have collection points or express cabinets, and doormen in some units can also sign for express delivery, which really provides convenience for couriers. If the courier puts the courier at the collection point or the courier cabinet, it can not only save a lot of time, but also save a lot of effort, without knocking on the door to deliver. " Li Li said that this caused many complaints. Some recipients were unwilling to go to the collection point or the courier cabinet to pick up the courier, and the courier just sent a text message to inform them to put the courier in the courier cabinet or the collection point without asking the opinions of the recipients, which caused complaints.
It is understood that if there is a complaint about notifying the recipient after putting the collection point or the courier counter, the courier will generally be punished because the courier did not ask the recipient’s opinion in advance. If the courier asks for advice by phone before placing it, and the other party refuses to admit it, he can be exempted from punishment by giving evidence.
Li Li once met a difficult customer. The other party lives on the sixth floor, and there is no elevator. No matter how heavy the express parcel is, he asks Li Li to deliver the parcel to his door, and it can only be delivered at noon or at night when there is someone at home. In fact, this customer has a courier cabinet downstairs, and the supermarket at the entrance of the community can also collect it, but he never lets Li Li put the parcel in these places. On one occasion, the customer’s package details said 30 kilograms of gypsum powder, and Li Li called in advance to tell him that he needed help to carry it upstairs. As a result, Li Li was complained to the post office by the customer that night.
Many couriers don’t want to go upstairs to deliver, and another reason is that they are afraid of losing their pieces.
"For example, couriers usually take a lot of couriers out. Not every courier can be locked in the carriage, and it is not 100% safe to lock in the carriage. The lock is easy to be pried open. When sending a package, you need to leave the tricycle temporarily, and passers-by may steal the courier. " Li Li said that in addition, the courier left the parcel at the post station, the supermarket in front of the community or the doorman. If the parcel was lost, the courier would also be liable for compensation or be complained.
According to Li Li, there is a sign-off rate requirement for the pieces delivered by couriers every day, generally about 80% in the morning and about 50% in the afternoon, which can be done under normal circumstances. However, if there are many dispatches, some couriers will falsely sign for it, and click to sign for it first, but the goods are not delivered, which is easy to be complained and will generally be established. 100 yuan was fined for falsely signing a bill.
Overtime expenses are difficult to implement.
Escrow by punishment is very common.
"There are more other complaints, such as untimely delivery, not calling in advance before delivery, etc., for various reasons." Li Li said.
A survey by the reporter of Legal Daily found that the express delivery industry still faces a problem — — Every shopping festival or important festival, couriers have to work overtime continuously, so the right to rest is not guaranteed and there is no overtime pay.
"According to the relevant provisions of China’s labor law, workers have the right to rest and vacation, and couriers have established labor relations with courier companies, so couriers have the right to rest and vacation. However, the work of express delivery is a piece-rate system, and more work pays more. Even if the courier works overtime, his salary generally includes overtime pay. Therefore, in practice, the overtime pay of couriers is difficult to get support. " Han Yingwei, a senior partner of Beijing Yingke Law Firm, said that for workers whose wages are calculated by piece rate, the average work quota should be set, and if the employer needs to extend the working hours, it should pay overtime wages according to the overtime regulations.
Han Yingwei said that during the "double 11" period, the number of parcels increased, and logistics enterprises should send more staff to recruit temporary workers to alleviate the work pressure caused by the shortage of existing logistics personnel. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the application of science and technology, so that the transportation and circulation of parcels can be more rapid and effective, and the labor cost paid by a single parcel can be reduced. Consumers should also understand and tolerate appropriate delays or delays during the logistics explosion.
Dr. Li Jing, from the Law School of China Institute of Labor Relations, also believes that the wages of couriers usually belong to piece-rate wages. According to the relevant provisions of the Labor Law and the Labor Contract Law, piece-rate wages cannot exceed the standard working hours. If it is exceeded, it needs to be calculated according to overtime pay, and the overtime pay usually rises by 150%. If the courier doesn’t get overtime pay, it is unreasonable and illegal.
"It needs a hard rule to guarantee the right of rest and vacation for couriers, otherwise it is not feasible to pass the labor law and the labor contract law only. It may be that the courier himself is willing to run a lot of orders to make money. Therefore, the entire express delivery industry needs to have a detailed supporting method that matches the piece-rate wage provisions in the Labor Law and the Labor Contract Law. " Li Jing said.
In addition, today, the express delivery industry mostly adopts the method of "penalty escrow" for couriers.
In Han Yingwei’s view, the phenomenon of "hosting by punishment" has different manifestations in various industries, and its common point is lazy politics. "Escrow by penalty" can only be used as an auxiliary means, not as a main management means. Fines can only be temporary. In the express delivery industry, "escrow by penalty" has been abused. In the face of malicious complaints, the express delivery company did not investigate the contents and facts of the complaints, which led to the fact that after the complaints appeared (whether the courier was responsible or not), the courier could only pay the fine.
"This is obviously an unreasonable deduction of wages, which completely violates the relevant provisions of the labor law." Han Yingwei said, "Relevant authorities should vigorously rectify the express delivery industry ‘ Escrow by penalty ’ Chaos, the express delivery industry should also establish a complaint investigation mechanism. For the irresponsible courier, the courier company should do a good job of explaining to the customer; If the courier is responsible, it is understandable to punish according to the rules and regulations. "
The government issued a document to protect rights and interests
Take multiple measures and make concerted efforts
Fortunately, the protection of the rights and interests of couriers is attracting the attention of relevant departments.
On November 8, the State Post Bureau issued 11 key tips to strengthen the protection of postal workers’ rights and interests and care during the "double 11" period.
Among them, "protect the labor rights and interests of couriers, guide enterprises to balance the delivery carrying capacity and the workload rate of couriers, ensure that the labor security of couriers is in place, the workload is not seriously overloaded, and ensure the life and health of couriers." "Guide enterprises to play the main role, strengthen the people-oriented management concept, and correct ‘ Escrow by penalty ’ ‘ Layers of fines ’ Simple and rude ways, optimize the benefit distribution mechanism, improve the reward and punishment mechanism, increase positive incentives, subsidies and condolences, etc., and effectively protect the labor income of couriers. " These two tips have aroused widespread concern in society.
In Li Jing’s view, this shows that the relevant departments are concerned about the living conditions of the express delivery industry and the people in this industry, and realize that the express delivery industry is under high load and pressure. Moreover, it is completely and completely implemented from the system to the text, and then to the specific practice.
Han Yingwei also believes that this advocacy and regulation in the form of government documents for a specific group of people in an industry precisely reflects the reality that this social group has not been properly protected. On the other hand, it is the tendency to accelerate and strengthen the protection of this group after realizing this problem. This is of positive significance to protect the rights of couriers and the rapid development of logistics industry.
Han Yingwei said that there are many departments involved in the logistics and express delivery industries. Although express delivery is supervised by the national postal department, it involves many departments such as transportation, industry and commerce, urban management, human resources and social resources. In order to seize the market, many express delivery companies adopt the franchise method, and each franchise store and outlet is responsible for its own profits and losses. Enterprises have no intention to pay attention to long-term plans, let alone the interests and development of employees. Therefore, the above-mentioned departments, especially their competent departments, should strictly supervise the logistics and express delivery departments to standardize and rationally employ workers and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the majority of couriers.
Han Yingwei also suggested that the protection of the courier’s right to labor remuneration should start from two aspects: one is to change the wage model and increase the basic salary income; Second, the courier company establishes a complaint investigation mechanism, clarifies the responsible person, and eliminates the phenomenon of punishing couriers for maintaining the company’s image regardless of right or wrong.
Regarding the right to rest and vacation of couriers, Han Yingwei suggested that the legislature should further make detailed and specific provisions on the content of the right to rest and vacation in the labor law; At the same time, adopt various ways to publicize relevant laws and regulations, so that couriers can enhance their legal awareness and learn to protect their rights and interests; In addition, relevant law enforcement departments should strengthen law enforcement, and courier companies should also pay attention to humanistic care and give couriers more rest time. Adequate rest will definitely improve service quality.
In addition, in order to better promote the professional development and social integration of personnel in the express delivery industry, Han Yingwei believes that social management of couriers should be promoted, self-discipline of enterprises should be strengthened, labor contracts should be signed, working hours in the express delivery industry should be standardized, employment pressure should be reduced, and work stability should be enhanced. At the same time, it is also necessary to strengthen the vocational training of express delivery employees, improve their sense of professional honor, provide a pillar for the professional promotion of express delivery personnel, and incorporate the professional skills training of express delivery personnel into the assessment conditions for enterprises to declare various awards at all levels, so as to enhance their sense of social responsibility.