Gree defaults on employee housing provident fund, Dong Mingzhu's "good boss" image collapses

[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
 
Case review
[4] Recently, a screenshot of a response letter from the Zhuhai Housing Provident Fund Management Center showed that from February 2012 to January 2022, an employee had an employment relationship with Gree Electric Appliances (000651.SZ) and signed a labor contract, leaving the company in January 2022.

 

[5] After investigation, Gree failed to fully contribute to the employee's housing provident fund based on the employee's average salary of the previous year from July 2012 to December 2021.

[6] Based on this calculation, the employee had worked at Gree for 10 years, but Gree only fully contributed to the employee's housing provident fund for 6 months.

On January 11, 2022, the employee filed a complaint with the Zhuhai Housing Provident Fund Management Center, demanding that Gree Electric Appliances pay the housing provident fund for the period from July 2013 to January 2022. It is reported that insufficient provident fund contributions for employees are not an isolated case at Gree, as other employees have similar issues.

 

A screenshot shows that Gree is studying a back-payment plan, and the amount of the housing provident fund arrears is currently being further calculated. Once Gree provides a clear timeline for the back payment, the provident fund management center will contact the employee.
 
In 2020, Gree Electric Appliances Chairperson Dong Mingzhu stated in a media interview that she agreed with abolishing the housing provident fund. She said the housing provident fund is unnecessary, and for a company like Gree, it is not needed, as every employee has been provided with a house, so why would they need the provident fund?

As early as 2018, Dong Mingzhu publicly promised: "I encourage employees to work hard. Gree will provide 80,000 employees with two-bedroom, one-living-room apartments. As long as you work until retirement, no matter how high housing prices get, it won't affect you." In August of the same year, Gree Electric Appliances' official Weibo account announced that a self-funded investment of 2 billion yuan for building talent apartments had broken ground, fulfilling the "housing distribution" promise.
 
 
"Housing Provident Fund Management Regulations"
Article 20
Employers shall pay the housing provident fund in full and on time, and shall not delay or underpay. For employers that genuinely have difficulty paying the housing provident fund, after discussion and approval by the employees' congress or labor union, review by the housing provident fund management center, and approval by the housing provident fund management committee, the contribution ratio may be reduced or payment may be deferred; once the employer's economic situation improves, the contribution ratio shall be increased or the deferred payments shall be made up.

Article 37
If a unit fails to register for housing provident fund contribution or fails to open a housing provident fund account for its employees in violation of these regulations, the housing provident fund management center shall order it to do so within a specified period; if it fails to do so within the specified period, a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan shall be imposed.
 
Article 38
If a unit fails to pay or underpays the housing provident fund within the specified period in violation of these regulations, the housing provident fund management center shall order it to make the payment within a specified period; if it still fails to pay within the specified period, the people's court may be applied for compulsory enforcement.

 
 

 
[1] The author's perspective
This incident still sparked "dissatisfaction" among netizens. Many netizens commented, "Providing housing is an employee benefit, while the housing provident fund is a state mandate; they cannot be conflated." Some netizens also commented, "Housing allocation is actually just a lure to get you to work; you won't get it if you don't work until retirement." Others bluntly said, "Don't overthink it; core employees get free housing, while grassroots employees get nothing."
 
As early as 2018, Dong Mingzhu made a bold promise to provide each employee with a house. Three years later, in 2021, only 3,700 talent apartments were put into use. Compared with Gree's over 90,000 employees, the proportion of employees receiving housing in three years was less than 4%. According to Dong Mingzhu, even employees who receive housing must work at Gree until retirement to obtain the property rights, and there is a priority order, with scientific and technical personnel given preference. Employees who choose to leave before retirement or during the waiting period for housing allocation face the loss of both talent housing and the housing provident fund. In this regard, the author reminds that rather than making empty promises, it is better to ensure the immediate welfare benefits of employees. After all, the long-term development of a company also requires the joint efforts of its employees, and losing their support is not worth it. Additionally, from a legal perspective, fully paying employees' housing provident fund is a company's obligation. As a major national brand, if Gree damages its reputation in this regard, it would truly be a case of gaining nothing.