★Case Overview
Mr. Zhong worked as a ship inspector at a certain company. One day, he was supposed to be responsible for inspecting the cargo on a cargo ship. However, due to some personal matters, he arranged for his friend, Mr. Gao, to take over his duties without obtaining the company’s permission. Later, the company believed that the inspector who boarded the ship did not complete the work, which caused reputational risks to the company. Therefore, the company terminated Mr. Zhong’s labor contract on the grounds that he left the loading site without permission and arranged for someone else to take over his duties, which violated basic labor discipline.
Mr. Zhong filed for labor arbitration, arguing that the company’s rules and regulations did not classify the above actions as serious violations of company rules and regulations. Therefore, he demanded the company to pay compensation for the unlawful termination of the labor contract. The labor arbitration supported Mr. Zhong’s request, but the company was dissatisfied and filed a lawsuit in court.
★Court Ruling
After hearing the case, the court determined the following: The essential nature of Mr. Zhong’s act of having Mr. Gao “substitute” for him or “take over his duties” is performing the labor contract on behalf of himself. Therefore, the focus of the dispute in this case lies in whether, during the performance of the labor relationship, the employee’s decision to have someone else perform the duties without the employer’s consent or subsequent approval constitutes a serious violation of the company’s rules and regulations or labor discipline.
The principle of personal performance is one of the principles that should be followed in the performance of the labor contract. The parties to the labor contract should personally fulfill their obligations as stipulated in the labor contract, which is determined by the personal nature of the labor relationship. The violation of the principle of personal performance should be considered a fundamental violation of the labor contract. In the absence of provisions or ineffectiveness in the labor contract or company rules and regulations, if the employee violates the obligations that must be observed, the employer can still demand that the employee be held accountable.
Given this, although the labor contract between the parties in this case did not expressly stipulate the clause of personal performance, it is an obligation inherent in the labor contract and does not require further agreement between the parties. Therefore, the court found that Mr. Zhong’s decision to have someone else perform the duties without the employer’s consent constitutes a serious violation of labor discipline. Accordingly, the company’s claim to not pay compensation for the unlawful termination of the labor contract was supported by the court.
★ Lawyer Tang’s Comments
Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Labor Law stipulates that employees shall abide by labor discipline and professional ethics. Article 25 of the Labor Law further states that if an employee seriously violates labor discipline or the employer’s rules and regulations, the employer may terminate the labor contract.
Therefore, complying with labor discipline and professional ethics is the most basic requirement for employees. Even in cases where the employer’s rules and regulations do not make explicit provisions, and the labor contract does not expressly specify, if an employee seriously violates labor discipline or professional ethics, the employer still has the right to terminate the labor contract based on the relevant provisions of the Labor Law.
In practice, employers should strive to establish and improve rules and regulations in accordance with the law to ensure that employees enjoy labor rights and fulfill their labor obligations. At the same time, employees should also abide by basic labor discipline and professional ethics and not use the absence of explicit provisions in the rules and regulations as an excuse to evade reasonable and lawful management actions by the employer.
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