After being fired, she sued three companies in court, demanding they pay her over 210,000 yuan of overtime wages for eight years.
Last Friday afternoon, Zhou Hui (a pseudonym) who lives in Dajin Kou district received the civil verdict from the Dajin Kou District Court. She couldn't wait to read the content of the verdict, but after reading it, she didn't say a word for a long time.
Two months ago, Zhou Hui sued three companies in court, demanding that these three companies pay her overtime wages for eight years totaling 211,429.7 yuan.
An eight-year veteran chef fights for her rights and gets fired
Zhou Hui, 45 years old this year, worked as a chef in the Chongqing branch of a company from February 10, 2003, to March 15, 2011, with a monthly salary of 1,350 yuan. Initially, Zhou Hui signed a labor contract with this Chongqing branch. However, starting from January 1, 2008, her labor contract relationship was transferred to another construction engineering company, continuing to work as a chef in the original company through a labor dispatch form.
However, on March 15 of last year, Zhou Hui was suddenly dismissed by this construction engineering company. "The company said I didn't do well, but I know it's not the real reason," Zhou Hui angrily told reporters that the company dismissed her because she and her colleague Wang Fang (a pseudonym) had gone to the labor department multiple times to report that the company did not pay their social insurance. Later, the company dismissed them one after another.
Zhou Hui has been divorced for many years and lives alone in an old two-bedroom apartment, living frugally. To this day, Zhou Hui has not found a new job. "They all think I'm too old and don't want to hire me." She told reporters that the reason she sued the three companies together is because she felt extremely wronged.
Demanding compensation of 210,000 yuan for overtime pay
Zhou Hui said that since she started working as a chef at the Chongqing branch of a company in 2003, she and Wang Fang have been responsible for the meals of more than 30 employees in the company. Due to the special nature of the company's work, employees take turns resting, and there are always employees coming to the canteen for meals every mealtime.
"For these eight years, I've almost been working overtime every day!" Zhou Hui said that due to insufficient manpower in the kitchen, she had to work every day. "If I don't go to work, those employees won't have food to eat." Zhou Hui told reporters that her working hours were from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm every day, preparing three meals a day. According to her working hours, Zhou Hui's daily working time reached 11 hours, exceeding the legal 8-hour limit.
"I don't have much education, so it's not easy to find a job, doing a bit more is fine," Zhou Hui said that although there were very few rest days, she never complained much. Zhou Hui said that during these eight years, she never asked the company for overtime pay because she was afraid of being dismissed. Her only dissatisfaction was that neither of the two companies that hired her paid her social insurance. However, she didn't expect that her normal rights protection would cost her her job.
In anger, Zhou Hui sued the Chongqing branch of the company where she had worked for eight years, the company's headquarters, and the construction engineering company that later hired her, all together in court. She demanded that these three companies jointly pay her overtime wages for weekends, statutory holidays, and three hours of overtime per day over the past eight years, totaling 211,429.7 yuan. And she also demanded that the three companies jointly compensate her for the economic losses caused by not handling her pension insurance for 12 months each year for eight years, amounting to 26,460 yuan, as well as the economic losses caused by not purchasing medical insurance, amounting to 7,938 yuan.
Although Zhou Hui felt wronged, this verdict still gave her some comfort. Because the court supported her request to claim double wages from the company for 11 months.
The Dajin Kou District Court ruled that the construction engineering company should pay Zhou Hui double wages for 11 months, totaling 11,605 yuan (double wages minus the already paid wages).
When labor disputes occur during the labor process, how should workers protect their rights? He Tianqiang, a lawyer from Chongqing Send Law Firm, believes that workers should promptly complain to the labor inspection department to protect their rights. "If you worry that the company will dismiss you because of the complaint, you can ask the inspection department to keep your personal information confidential," said Lawyer He. If the employer really dismisses the worker because of the complaint, the worker can still sue the court, accusing the employer of terminating the labor contract without cause and seeking compensation.
Intern reporter Liu Bo of Chongqing Morning Post
At the trial scene, the construction engineering company that employed Zhou Hui provided a two-year labor contract signed with Zhou Hui on January 1, 2008. The contract clearly stipulated a comprehensive calculated working hour system and an irregular working hour system, with a monthly salary of 1,055 yuan (basic salary of 700 yuan, bonus, and overtime pay of 355 yuan). Therefore, the construction engineering company believed that even if Zhou Hui worked overtime, they had already paid her overtime pay in her monthly salary.
However, during the court's review, although Zhou Hui kept saying that she almost worked overtime every day, the evidence she provided was difficult to prove the fact of overtime. Her only witness - her colleague Wang Fang - could only prove that her daily working time was 11 hours. However, the court's investigation found that Wang Fang had also sued the three defendants in this case, with basically the same litigation requests, and her only witness was Zhou Hui herself.
The court ruled that since Zhou Hui and Wang Fang had significant conflicts of interest, the court ultimately rejected Zhou Hui's claims for weekend rest day overtime pay, statutory holiday overtime pay, and daily overtime pay for three hours due to insufficient evidence.
In addition, when the Dajin Kou District People's Court reviewed this case, it found that on December 31, 2007, Zhou Hui had already terminated her labor contract with the Chongqing branch of a company. As of April 8, 2011, when Zhou Hui applied for labor arbitration, it had exceeded four years. Therefore, the court also rejected Zhou Hui's claims against the company's headquarters and the Chongqing branch.