Basic Case
In June 2020, Zhang Tao (not his real name) joined a technology company with a monthly salary of 20000 yuan. When signing a labor contract with Zhang Tao, the technology company asked him to sign an agreement that included "I voluntarily apply to join the company's striver plan and give up overtime pay".
Six months later, Zhang Tao proposed to terminate the labor contract for personal reasons and asked the technology company to pay overtime pay. The technology company recognized the fact that Zhang Tao worked overtime, but refused to pay overtime pay on the ground that he voluntarily signed an agreement to waive overtime pay.
Zhang Tao applied to the Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Commission for arbitration and requested the technology company to pay 24000 yuan of overtime pay from June to December 2020. The arbitration commission ruled that the technology company should pay Zhang Tao overtime from June to December 2020.
Case Study
The focus of the dispute in this case is whether Zhang Tao can claim overtime pay after signing the agreement to waive overtime pay.
According to Article 26 of the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, "The following labor contracts are invalid or partially invalid:...... (2) The employer exempts itself from its legal responsibilities and excludes the rights of workers;" Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of Law in Hearing Labor Dispute Cases (I) (Fa Shi [2020] No. 26) Article 35 stipulates: "The agreement reached between the laborer and the employing unit on the cancellation or termination of the labor contract, the handling of relevant formalities, the payment of wages, overtime pay, economic compensation or compensation, etc., does not violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations, and there is no fraud, coercion or danger of taking advantage of the situation, shall be recognized as valid. If the agreement mentioned in the preceding paragraph is seriously misunderstood or obviously unfair, and the parties request cancellation, the people's court shall support it. " Overtime pay is the salary and reward for the extended working hours of the workers. Article 44 of the Labor Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 31 of the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulate the responsibility of the employer to pay overtime pay to the workers. The agreement on waiving overtime pay exempts the employer from its legal responsibilities and excludes the rights of workers, which is obviously unfair and should be deemed invalid.
In this case, the technology company, taking advantage of its dominant position when signing the labor contract, asked Zhang Tao to sign on his unilaterally formulated standard terms to waive overtime pay, which violated both the legal provisions and the principle of fairness, and infringed Zhang Tao's wage and remuneration rights. Therefore, the Arbitration Commission ruled that the technology company should pay Zhang Tao overtime pay according to law.
Typical significance
Seeking enterprise development and shaping enterprise culture must keep the bottom line of not violating laws and regulations and not infringing the legitimate rights and interests of workers. On the basis of adhering to the principle of distribution according to work, scientific and reasonable measures should be taken to stimulate the subjective initiative and creativity of workers, and promote enterprise development and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of workers as a whole.
