Protecting employees for social justice

A guidance document issued by the Supreme People's Court makes it clear that the courts will not support employers if they are sued for terminating a labor contract with an employee simply because the employee contracted the novel coronavirus, was quarantined as a suspected case of infection or simply returned from a virus-hit area.

As early as late January, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued a document stressing that the legal rights of those who contracted the virus, or were suspected of being infected or who had been in close contact with an infected person must be protected.

Some local governments also issued similar notices to remind employers that legal articles about dismissal without fault should not be abused to fire employees.

However, there have been instances in which employees were told that they had been dismissed after being isolated at home or on their return from Hubei province after the lifting of the lockdown.

The Guiding Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Proper Trial of Civil Cases Concerning New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic Diseases released by the country's top court is a timely clarification that the courts will protect the rights of employees.

Among the 10 specific measures that it sets out for people's courts to properly hear civil cases related to the novel coronavirus, the document emphasizes that the relevant provisions of the Labor Law and the Labor Contract Law must be accurately applied, and that unjustified coronavirus transmission fears do not constitute grounds for dismissal.

Contracting the novel coronavirus is a disaster for anyone, and being victimized because of that or on suspicion of being a potential transmitter of the virus is a distressing experience. Losing their jobs is the last thing anyone needs at this moment.

This document should encourage any employees who believe they have been unfairly dismissed to file a lawsuit against their employers. And it will help promote labor relations if such cases could be settled through arbitration.

To protect the vulnerable should always be what a society is obligated to do for social justice, especially when a natural disaster like this pandemic strikes. It is inhuman for an employer to fire someone who has been infected with the novel coronavirus or been quarantined as a suspected case.

To uphold social fairness, employers need to put in place employees' health management protocols, implement workplace prevention and control measures, and provide their employees with information on best protection practices, rather than dismissing those who they fear may transmit the virus.

And although the pandemic has hit a lot of companies hard, particularly businesses in the service sector, this document should also serve as a reminder to employers that they cannot arbitrarily give their employees the axe as a way to reduce costs.