[4] Incident Background

[5] On October 8, 2011, Ji joined Dianping (Nanjing) as a salesperson. One day, her salary slip appeared on an anonymous social app called "Youmi." After learning about this, the company believed she had leaked confidential information and terminated her contract. Ji claimed she did not leak the salary slip and sued the company. The court ruled that the company should compensate Ji 12 yuan.

[6] On December 28, 2014, a partial screenshot of a salary slip appeared on "Youmi," mainly showing three specific figures: social insurance contribution of 493 yuan, personal housing provident fund contribution of 368 yuan, and personal income tax (monthly salary) of 5,300.64 yuan, with no employee name or company name.

After the company discovered this, it conducted an investigation. The investigation report concluded that the payroll slip was Ji's November 2014 payroll slip, and Ji's salary email was automatically sent to her email address by the system and was not forwarded to any other email addresses. Meanwhile, the payroll slip stated: Salary information is confidential; please do not discuss it with other colleagues or disclose it to others except for colleagues in the Compensation and Benefits Department and your direct supervisor. The company determined that Ji was responsible for the disclosure of the salary information. On December 29, 2014, the company delivered a "Notice of Termination of Labor Contract" to Ji. On the same day, Ji completed the resignation handover procedures with the company, and both parties confirmed that the final settlement date was December 29, 2014. One week later, the company issued another "Notice of Termination of Labor Contract" and a "Certificate of Resignation" to Ji, which stated that the company terminated the labor relationship with Ji on January 16, 2015, due to serious disciplinary violations.

In response, a lawsuit was filed with the Qinhuai Court. Ji demanded that the company pay 1 yuan for half a month's wages from January 1 to 16, 2015, and 15 yuan as compensation for illegal termination of the labor contract. She also requested that the company correct the reason for resignation in the "Certificate of Resignation" and the reason for termination of the labor contract in the "Notice of Termination of Labor Contract."

　　Judgment Result

After trial, the court held that the poster of the post in the "Youmi" social software was anonymous, and the screenshot of the payroll slip did not show the names of Ji or the company. The court found that the company's determination that Ji disclosed the payroll slip was merely its analysis and speculation, lacking sufficient evidence to prove that Ji was responsible. Therefore, the company's termination of the labor contract with Ji based on this was insufficiently evidenced and constituted illegal termination. The company should pay her compensation for illegal termination of the labor contract.

Regarding the compensation, the court found that Ji's average monthly salary for the 12 months before her resignation was 2 yuan, which exceeded three times the average salary of employees in urban non-private units in Nanjing in 2014. Therefore, the calculation was based on three times the average salary of employees in urban non-private units in Nanjing in 2014. Ultimately, the court determined that the company should pay 12 yuan as compensation for illegal termination of the labor contract. Since the court had already determined that the company illegally terminated the labor contract with Ji, her claim to correct the reason for resignation and the reason for termination of the labor contract was not supported.

So how should we determine whether an employer has illegally terminated a labor relationship?

　　Zhiming Encyclopedia

Labor relations can be terminated, but such termination must comply with legal provisions. So, what are the circumstances under which termination of labor relations is illegal and invalid? Zhiming lawyers will tell you!

Circumstances where termination of labor relations is illegal and invalid

According to Article 40 of the Labor Contract Law, under any of the following circumstances, the employer may terminate the labor contract after giving the employee 30 days' written notice in advance or paying one month's wages in lieu of notice:

(1) The employee is ill or injured not due to work, and after the prescribed medical treatment period, is unable to perform the original work or any other work arranged by the employer;

(2) The employee is incompetent for the job and, after training or adjustment of the job position, remains incompetent;

(3) If a major change in the objective circumstances relied upon at the time of conclusion of the labor contract renders the contract unperformable, and after negotiation between the employer and the worker, no agreement is reached on modifying the contract.

Additionally, Article 42 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates that an employer shall not terminate a labor contract in accordance with Articles 40 and 41 of this Law under any of the following circumstances:

(1) Workers engaged in operations exposed to occupational disease hazards have not undergone pre-departure occupational health checks, or suspected occupational disease patients are during diagnosis or medical observation;

(2) Workers who have contracted an occupational disease or been injured at work at the employing unit and have been confirmed to have lost or partially lost their ability to work;

(3) Workers who are ill or injured not related to work and are within the prescribed medical treatment period;

(4) Female workers during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding periods;

(5) Having worked continuously for 15 years in the unit and being less than 5 years away from the statutory retirement age;

(6) Other circumstances as stipulated by laws and administrative regulations.

Therefore, the company did not have sufficient direct evidence to prove that the aforementioned "leak" was indeed committed by Ji himself. They dismissed Ji without following the provisions of Article 40 of the Labor Contract Law, so the court's ruling was reasonable and justified. However, why can't we share our salaries? I believe many people are also curious.

Simply put, many companies have a "confidential salary system." In the "Employment Notice," "Confidentiality Agreement," and internal employee handbook signed between the company and employees, it is clearly stated that "salary is highly confidential and employees must not disclose it." In fact, the purpose is to protect "high-salary employees" from being ostracized and to prevent "low-salary employees" from being discriminated against—a completely well-intentioned and humane system. At the same time, most companies do not want employees to disclose their pay slips, and an important reason is that the taxes paid on the pay slip can be used to infer the company's operating costs, involving some more complex issues.

So, if you want to post your salary on social media, remember to think twice—post carefully and cherish your job! If you mess up, you might lose it!