The reason for this provision is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of female employees, because it is difficult for pregnant or lactating female employees to find jobs after being dismissed or terminating their labor contracts. The law must ensure that they receive proper care during pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, a recent news that "a woman was fired during lactation after giving birth in the United States" had different results, and the court supported the company's dismissal decision.
Labor and personnel disputes occur between workers and employers, such as illegal dismissal, failure to pay social security, deduction of wages, etc. And you must apply for labor arbitration first. If, after the labor arbitration, the laborer or any party of the company refuses to accept the arbitration result, they can bring a lawsuit to the court.
There are two controversial points in this case: Is it illegal for the company to terminate the labor contract with Ms. Li? Should the company compensate Ms. Li? The mobile company proposed that Ms. Li's leave with false medical certificates was invalid, which was absenteeism and the company had the right to dismiss. The company submitted relevant rules and regulations: Ms. Li suggested that there were signs of the first trillion miscarriage at that time, so she went to the United States to have a baby in advance. Although she did use false materials, the reason for asking for leave was real, and the company had agreed to ask for leave, so she was not absent from work.
Regarding the defense reasons of both parties, the court put forward three opinions: Ms. Li took time off with false supporting documents, which violated the principle of honesty and trustworthiness. Ms. Li's "leave-taking" behavior seems to be in line with the rules and regulations and leave-taking process formulated by Mobile Wuxi Branch according to law, but the "diagnosis certificate" obtained by "entrusting medical treatment" affected the employer's judgment on the authenticity of sick leave in a false external form, which led to the "false" leave-taking behavior of Mobile Wuxi Branch under the cover of the true and false "diagnosis certificate".
Article 3 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates that the conclusion of a labor contract shall follow the principles of legality, fairness, equality, voluntariness, consensus, honesty and credibility. It can be seen that honesty and credit is one of the basic principles of China's civil and commercial law, which requires people to be honest and trustworthy in civil activities. As a laborer, telling the employer honestly is the minimum professional ethics. In view of Ms. Li's failure to follow the principle of good faith, she has lost the possibility of continuing to perform the contract. Therefore, it is not improper for the company to terminate the labor contract. While safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of workers and protecting the interests of enterprises themselves, employers should also safeguard national interests.
When the epidemic broke out in COVID-19, all localities and units need to know and report the whereabouts of employees and do a good job in epidemic prevention and control. Ms. Li not only continued to conceal the fact that she was expecting a baby in the United States, but also continued to apply for sick leave from Wuxi Mobile Company with the "diagnosis certificate" obtained by "entrusted medical treatment", which was obviously subjective and intentional.
Ms. Li said that she had "the first trillion miscarriages" and might "miscarry" or "give birth prematurely". However, it is puzzling that under such circumstances, Ms. Li is also willing to make an "appropriate flight commitment" with the airlines to fly to the United States for labor? I can only say that Ms. Li's physical condition is not so serious that she can't work at all. In the end, the court rejected Ms. Li's claim, and Ms. Li appealed, but the court of second instance upheld the original judgment.
Some inspirations brought by this case: it is the responsibility and obligation of each of us to comply with the requirements of epidemic prevention and control. Like this case, Ms. Li's behavior of concealing her personal itinerary has been suspected of breaking the law, and if the circumstances are serious, she may also be suspected of committing a crime. Recently, there have been many cases of deliberately concealing the itinerary and then being detained by administrative or even criminal detention, all of which have legal basis.
The news that "female employees get pregnant after joining the company and then take maternity leave equally" always attracts the attention of netizens, because it is actually unfair to the company, but the company seems to have no way to dismiss them. This case tells us that it is not impossible. If a pregnant female employee violates honesty and trustworthiness, such as signing a contract by fraudulent means, seriously violating the rules and regulations of the employer, seriously dereliction of duty, and engaging in malpractices for selfish ends, the company can terminate the labor contract with the female employee, which also has legal basis.