A Chinese company has been successfully sued for firing a worker who allegedly shared a picture of her payslip on an anonymous online platform.
A court has decided that food-delivery app-based service provider Dianping terminated her employment without sufficient evidence and that the woman, known as Ji, was owed significant compensation.
Ji first joined Dianping’s Nanjing branch in 2011. According to local media, the company’s job offer statement emphasised that salary details should not be shared among co-workers. Ji was required to sign a confidentiality agreement stating that the company could fire her without compensation if she violated their terms.
But in late December 2014, a partial picture of a pay slip turned up on anonymous social platform Youmi, showing figures relating to an employee’s social security, social insurance payments and monthly income tax. The picture did not include the name of the company or the worker, although there was speculation that it came from Dianping.
On establishing that this was the case, Ji was told her contract was terminated, according to Technode. After she unsuccessfully applied for labour arbitration, she sued the company for RMB10,000 (US$1,116) in unpaid salary for the first half of January 2015, plus another RMB150,000 (US$16,743) in compensation.
The first court case yielded a partial win for Ji: although the judgment stated that Dianping did not owe her backpay, it added that the company did not have enough evidence to prove that Ji had shared her payslip on Youmi. Dianping was ordered to pay her RMB120,000 (US$13,395) in compensation.
Both appealed to a higher court, but the most recent ruling has upheld the previous judgment. In addition, the court stated that Dianping’s employee handbook could not be used as the basis for which to end a work contract. It also ruled that salary information was not covered by the terms of the confidentiality agreement, and that the leaked picture had not shown the employee's salary in the first place.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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A Chinese company has been successfully sued for firing a worker who allegedly shared a picture of her payslip on an anonymous online platform.
A court has decided that food-delivery app-based service provider Dianping terminated her employment without sufficient evidence and that the woman, known as Ji, was owed significant compensation.
Ji first joined Dianping’s Nanjing branch in 2011. According to local media, the company’s job offer statement emphasised that salary details should not be shared among co-workers. Ji was required to sign a confidentiality agreement stating that the company could fire her without compensation if she violated their terms.
But in late December 2014, a partial picture of a pay slip turned up on anonymous social platform Youmi, showing figures relating to an employee’s social security, social insurance payments and monthly income tax. The picture did not include the name of the company or the worker, although there was speculation that it came from Dianping.
On establishing that this was the case, Ji was told her contract was terminated, according to Technode. After she unsuccessfully applied for labour arbitration, she sued the company for RMB10,000 (US$1,116) in unpaid salary for the first half of January 2015, plus another RMB150,000 (US$16,743) in compensation.
The first court case yielded a partial win for Ji: although the judgment stated that Dianping did not owe her backpay, it added that the company did not have enough evidence to prove that Ji had shared her payslip on Youmi. Dianping was ordered to pay her RMB120,000 (US$13,395) in compensation.
Both appealed to a higher court, but the most recent ruling has upheld the previous judgment. In addition, the court stated that Dianping’s employee handbook could not be used as the basis for which to end a work contract. It also ruled that salary information was not covered by the terms of the confidentiality agreement, and that the leaked picture had not shown the employee's salary in the first place.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
OTHER ARTICLES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
China takes steps to crack down on tax evasion
Expats in China: Deciphering the rules on individual income tax
Obtaining China's new unified work permits
