Can an employee with an unpaid wage bill sue directly?

★ Brief

In 2018, Wang joined Shanghai Si Zhi Company as the director of production and procurement. On 12 June 2020, due to personal reasons, the two parties confirmed the termination of the laobor contract relationship and finished the separation procedures. On 18 June 2020, Si Zhi Company’s human resources department issued a “confirmation of employee salary” to Wang, recording his date of entry, work number and date of separation, and confirming that as of the date of Wang’s separation salaries and reimbursements were as follows: annual salary of 13 months in 2018, annual salary of 13 months in 2019, December 2019 salary, salary for January, February, March, April, May and June 1^st to 12th in 2020, totaling (before tax) RMB288,025.28 and reimbursements of RMB10, 874.40.

Wang sued the Shanghai District Court after Si Zhi Company failed to pay the above amounts.

★The verdict

The court ruled that Si Zhi Company should pay Wang a salary of RMB 288,025.28, a reimbursement of RMB 10,874.40 and double the interest on the debt during the period of delayed payment.

The court held that the employer should pay the worker in full and on time in accordance with the labor contract and the law, and should pay the difference if the worker is not paid in full and on time in accordance with the labor contract or the state regulations. The workers used the employer’s wage slips as evidence to file a lawsuit directly with the court. The lawsuit did not involve any other disputes over labor relations and was regarded as a dispute over arrears of labor remuneration and was accepted in accordance with ordinary civil disputes.

★ Comment of Lawyer Tang

Article 15 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of Law to the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (1) clearly stipulates that: “If a worker files a lawsuit directly with the employer’s wages in arrears as evidence, and the claim does not involve other disputes in the labor relationship, it shall be regarded as a dispute over arrears of labor remuneration, and the people’s court shall accept it in accordance with ordinary civil disputes “.

According to the above provision, if a worker files a lawsuit directly with the employer’s salary arrears note as evidence and the claim does not involve other disputes in labor relations, the People’s Court shall accept the lawsuit in accordance with ordinary civil disputes and the three-year statute of limitations shall apply. In this case, there is no need to go through the preliminary procedure of labor arbitration.

From previous cases, the evidence of salary arrears is not limited to the word “arrears”, but also includes evidence such as the “Confirmation of Employee’s Salary”. However, it is important to note that the case fee for ordinary civil proceedings is related to the amount of the subject matter of the proceedings, whereas the fee for labor arbitration is free of charge. Therefore, if the amount of wages owed by the employer to the worker is high, the case processing fee is not a small amount, which needs to be paid by the worker first, so sometimes this is an avenue to defend the worker’s rights that requires financial consideration.