Farmers, workers, beware of mines! Uninsured claims 300,000! Cai Peihui: Not a single case, the Ministry of Labor of the Council of Agriculture should negotiate supporting facilities

300 share

There is a serious shortage of workers in agriculture, and some farmers follow the tradition of "changing jobs together" to find relatives and friends to help, or to hire foreign workers. however, most farmers may not know that these common daily pay methods for spot workers in rural areas fall within the jurisdiction of the labor-based law. even if you hire only one person to assist in the harvest for one day, you need to apply for employment insurance, while if you hire more than five helpers at a time, you need to apply for compulsory labor insurance. But farmers usually do not realize that they are "employers" and often go to the brink of breaking the law because they do not know it.

A few days ago, there was a case in which farmer Zhang Hongtian hired an assistant, Mr. Xiao, to manage the orchard for a short time, but because he was not feeling well, he was hospitalized for a year due to infection caused by the operation. during the period, Mr. Xiao was asked to take care of the orchard for about a year and a half. Unexpectedly, half a year after the termination of employment, Xiao filed a civil claim against him on the grounds that Zhang had not insured labor health insurance and employment insurance. Zhang asked for compensation for "severance payment and advance salary,"retirement payment", "unemployment benefit" and "occupational disaster compensation" totaling 300000 yuan.

Zhang Hongtian was badly hit and asked the Ministry of Labor and the Council of Agriculture for an explanation, but the Ministry of Labor believes that agriculture is governed by labor-based laws, and that "penalties can be imposed only if employers do not draw up a labor register or record a salary scale." On the other hand, the Council of Agriculture believes that the competent authority of labor law is in the Ministry of Labor, and the Council of Agriculture can only remind farmers to avoid risks. Tsai Peihui, a retired legislator who has been involved in the rural movement for many years, said that Zhang Hongtian's situation is not a single case, and the impact is broad, and the Ministry of Labor and the Council of Agriculture should consult together to find supporting measures that can be solved in the long run.

Zhang Hongtian said that he had lost his health and trust in human nature, and hoped that no other farmers would suffer the same pain as him. (photo / Lin Jiyang) "paying by the day to help farmers" has become a "labor dispute", with farmers being compensated for 300000 yuan.

At the age of 70, Zhang Hongtian began to take classes in the agricultural improvement farm before retiring, studying organic agriculture and natural farming methods. At the age of 60, he "gave up his work and became a farmer." he first planted non-toxic sweet potatoes and successfully planted wheat. three years ago, he inherited two and a half agricultural land in Zhongpu, Chiayi, and planned it as a passion orchard.

In the spring of 2018, Zhang Hongtian was scheduled to undergo knee replacement surgery, which was expected to include recovery for about a few months, so he found Mr. Xiao, who registered for a job, through the Chiayi Employment guidance Station, and both sides agreed to manage the orchard on a daily basis. Unexpectedly, an infection occurred after the operation, and a series of treatment and recovery began. He was hospitalized for more than a year. After he was discharged from the hospital, he still had to recover and recuperate. During this period, he continued to hire Mr. Xiao to take care of the orchard.

However, due to the worse-than-expected recovery, the doctor told Zhang Hongtian that he was no longer allowed to engage in agriculture, and in June 2019, he proposed to Xiao to terminate the cooperation. Unexpectedly, at the end of the year, Xiao filed a civil claim against him for compensation of "severance payment and advance salary", "retirement payment", "unemployment benefit" and "occupational disaster compensation" totaling 300000 yuan on the grounds of uninsured labor and health insurance and employment insurance.

After the disaster of life and death in the hospital, but once again faced with litigation, he returned to the Baixiang orchard, which had been managed by hired workers, and the tragic situation of abandonment made him filled with emotion. "with a meagre agricultural income, looking for someone without a job is like holding an irregular bomb?"

Zhang Hongtian was very surprised when he suddenly became the defendant. In his impression, it is very common for farmers to hire people to help today and to be hired to work tomorrow. It is very common to be paid on a daily basis. Why is there a lawsuit for compensation?. On the one hand, he asked around, and on the other hand, through the then legislator Wu Shiyu, he asked the Ministry of Labor and the Council of Agriculture for an explanation.

On December 31st last year (2019), Wu Jianyu invited the Council of Agriculture and the Ministry of Labor to hold a coordination meeting on the Zhang Hongtian complaint. Zhang Hongtian heard an official from the Ministry of Labor mention that "once the labor law is applied, penalties can be imposed only if the employer has not drawn up a labor register or recorded a salary scale." He could not believe that he burst into tears on the spot. He marveled at the situation of the farmers: "the income of farming is meagre, and it is troublesome enough to find someone without a job. Do you still have to hold an indefinite time bomb when you find someone?"

The Council of Agriculture: it is difficult to amend the Labor Law. It is recommended that employees find familiar relatives and friends to avoid disputes.

Qiu Dingxiang, the organizer of the Council of Agriculture who attended the coordination meeting, explained: "the Council of Agriculture is not the unit in charge of the labor law, and it is impossible to contravene the labor law. Zhang Hongtian advocated that the application of the Labor Law should be exempted in this case, which is not for the Council of Agriculture to decide. "

Qiu added, "if there is a situation where the labor law is not applicable (for example, families are excluded from the scope of application), the Ministry of Labor will explain it by letter, but in this case, the Ministry of Labor suggests that employers should negotiate with workers, and if there is no settlement, they can only let the court decide." In other words, the Ministry of Labor believes that the case cannot be excluded from the labor-employment relationship.

Cai Peijun, director of the Agricultural Manpower Office of the guidance Office of the Council of Agriculture, said: "it is very difficult to amend the current Labor Law, and it is suggested that farmers should try their best to find familiar relatives and friends to avoid disputes; or at the time of employment, the two sides must agree on a contracting relationship (outsourcing the work) and avoid command / subordination in order to avoid subsequent labor disputes." For example, in the substitute farming system, when the harvester is harvested, the farmer only receives the results but does not intervene in the process, and the two sides do not have a command / subordinate relationship, even if they are contracted.

Peasant household employees step into the "grey area of violation of the law"

She frankly said that most farmers employ workers on a small scale, and although less than five people are exempted from compulsory labor insurance, regardless of the number of working days, they still have the obligation to provide labor return and compulsory employment insurance as far as the labor law is concerned, as well as the existence of grey areas in violation of the law, such as the occupational disaster risk of employees.

In the face of the problem of labor shortage and the risk of labor disputes over self-employment, Tsai Peijun said that the Council of Agriculture has implemented a human force system in local peasant associations, allowing peasant associations to play the role of employers of dispatch companies, so that farmers can have jobs to call, and exempt self-employed workers from employers' responsibilities.

In response to the human force regiment proposal put forward by the Council of Agriculture, it is found that not all peasant associations have set up agro-technical groups, and the scale of manpower and technical requirements may not necessarily meet the needs of farmers.

Lin Shun-ho, director-general of the Pingtung Hengchun Peasant Association, said that at present, there are 40 members of the agricultural technical delegation, and the peasant association is the nominal employer of the technical delegation, but it is actually only responsible for mediating. Farmers in various places register the number of workers required, and the peasant association is uniformly deployed by the peasant association. The scope of support covers Manchuria, Checheng and Yishan. In fact, the problem of labor shortage has not been completely solved. After all, agriculture is seasonal.