Fri, 08/21/2020 - 11:40 — lac-admin
2020-08-21
From the past months, we published two survey reports about the labour right related issues in China during and after COVID-19 outbreak. For a better understanding of the target topic, we made some minor adjustments to the survey report used in Phase 2 research and apply the modified version in Henan Province. Henan Province is one of the provinces with the largest population size in China. The random sampling survey research was conducted online.
Method
- Data collection method: structural survey
- Target: Workers who are currently working or not resuming working but keeping employment relationship, with household register location in Henan Province or working in Henan Province.
- Sampling method: Online survey
- Sampling size: 275 valid responses collected, and the present report mainly focused on the 262 respondents who currently working in Henan Province
This report aims at revealing the situation of workers in Henan Province after COVID-19 outbreak.
1.Target
As the present survey started in Henan Province, though the inclusive criteria were “household register location in Henan Province” or “currently working in Henan Province”, workers currently working in Henan Province dominates the participants. For a more specific analysis, we excluded 13 respondents who came from Henan Province and worked outside Henan. The current report was based on the responses from 262 participants working in Henan Province (1.53% came from other provinces).
To observe the possible differences caused by gender, the table below compared the distribution of responses by all participants, by males and by females. As the gender ratio of our interviewees was nearly even, and no significant gender differences revealed, instead of gender comparison, the report will focus on the findings from all participants.
Table1: Basic information of the participant
|
Type of information |
Options |
Ratio |
||
|
Overall |
Male |
Female |
||
|
Gender |
Male |
52.3% |
|
|
|
Female |
47.7% |
|
|
|
|
Age range |
Under 18 years old |
0.4% |
0.7% |
0.0% |
|
18-25 years old |
10.7% |
10.2% |
11.2% |
|
|
26-45 years old |
64.1% |
63.5% |
64.8% |
|
|
46-55 years old |
22.5% |
22.6% |
22.4% |
|
|
Over 55 years old |
2.3% |
2.9% |
1.6% |
|
|
Household register location |
Zhengzhou, Henan Province |
69.8% |
66.4% |
73.6% |
|
Nanyang, Henan Province |
6.5% |
9.4% |
3.2% |
|
|
Luoyang, Henan Province |
4.6% |
5.8% |
3.2% |
|
|
Jiyuan, Henan Province |
3.8% |
1.4% |
6.4% |
|
|
Xvchang, Henan Province |
3.1% |
4.3% |
1.6% |
|
|
Other places in Henan Province |
10.7% |
11.3% |
12.0% |
|
|
Province other than Henan |
1.5% |
1.4% |
1.6% |
|
|
Industry |
Manufacture |
12.6% |
19.7% |
4.8% |
|
Agriculture |
0.8% |
0.7% |
0.8% |
|
|
Construction |
9.2% |
9.5% |
8.8% |
|
|
Finance and insurance |
3.8% |
2.2% |
5.6% |
|
|
Transport, post and telecommunication services |
9.5% |
13.1% |
5.6% |
|
|
Social work, health care, sports, and social welfare facilities |
5.3% |
4.4% |
6.4% |
|
|
Trades like garment, catering and shops |
6.5% |
3.6% |
9.6% |
|
|
Education, culture, arts and broadcasting and television |
3.8% |
2.2% |
5.6% |
|
|
Household services and consultation |
11.1% |
8.0% |
14.4% |
|
|
Scientific research and polytechnic services |
0.4% |
0.7% |
0.0% |
|
|
Others |
37.0% |
35.8% |
38.4% |
|
|
Nature of employer |
Foreign capital |
1.9% |
0.7% |
3.2% |
|
Chinese-foreign joint funded |
1.5% |
0.7% |
2.4% |
|
|
State-owned |
10.3% |
9.5% |
8.8% |
|
|
Private firms |
57.3% |
60.6% |
50.4% |
|
|
Governmental sections |
2.7% |
3.6% |
1.6% |
|
|
Self-employed |
4.2% |
4.4% |
3.2% |
|
|
Others |
21.4% |
20.4% |
30.4% |
|
|
Scale of employee |
Fewer than 20 |
32.4% |
32.1% |
32.8% |
|
21-100 |
39.3% |
40.1% |
38.4% |
|
|
101-500 |
14.5% |
18.2% |
10.4% |
|
|
501-1000 |
5.7% |
4.3% |
7.2% |
|
|
Over 1000 |
8.0% |
5.1% |
11.2% |
|
|
Job duty |
Production worker, transportation worker and some physical worker |
23.3% |
35.0% |
12.8% |
|
Service industry worker |
42.4% |
32.1% |
53.6% |
|
|
Business worker |
2.7% |
2.2% |
3.2% |
|
|
Agricultural worker |
0.8% |
1.5% |
0.0% |
|
|
Professional and technician |
11.1% |
11.7% |
10.4% |
|
|
Clerk |
6.5% |
5.8% |
7.2% |
|
|
Person in charge |
0.8% |
1.5% |
0.0% |
|
|
Others |
11.5% |
10.2% |
12.8% |
|
Summary of participant information
- Gender distribution: nearly 1:1
- Gender distribution: mainly young to middle-aged, around 70% aged 26 to 45 years old
- Household register location and workplace location: Henan Province, mainly in Zhengzhou City (about 70%)
- Industry distribution: wide range
- Nature of employer: more than half worked in private firms, nearly 60%
- Job duty distribution: most of our participants were grassroots staff, with 42% service industry worker and 23% production worker, transportation worker and some physical worker.
2.The employee situation after COVID-19 in Henan Province
Limited by the scale of survey, the present report was not able to provide a comprehensive reflection of COVID-19 related changes (such as unemployment rate and labour mobility) at a national scale. The research team made some minor amendments on the previous questionnaire for a more locally specific understanding in the survey in Henan Province.
2.1 COVID-19 outbreak caused difficulties of life on nearly 70% of the participants, while more than 30% of the participants worried about unemployment
(1) 10% of interviewed workers in Henan Province changed their job due to the unsatisfactory operational conditions of the previous employer
Similar to the previous findings, most of our respondents started their job before COVID-19 (around 74.1%). The question “did you change your job due to COVID-19” received about 10% positive responses. More than half of these respondents changed their job because of the bankruptcy or poor financial condition of their previous company.
Results on the between-gender comparison on this question are listed in the table below.
Table 2: Did you change your job due to COVID-19?
|
Sex |
Yes |
No |
|
Male |
10.90% |
89.10% |
|
Female |
8.70% |
91.20% |
|
Overall |
10% |
90% |
Table 3: Reasons for job change
|
Sex |
Bankruptcy |
Lay-offs |
Delayed payment of salary |
Poor financial conditions of previous employer |
Others |
|
Male |
40.0% |
13.3% |
0.0% |
26.7% |
20.0% |
|
Female |
18.2% |
9.1% |
18.2% |
27.3% |
27.3% |
|
Overall |
31% |
11% |
8% |
27% |
23% |
(2) More than 40% of workers reduced their salary
As summarized in Table 4, around 50% of our participants maintained the same level of working hours, workload and salary level before and after COVID-19 outbreak: it refers that another half of the participants changed workload or salary after COVID-19. The current data is not adequate for analyzing the level of correlation between the epidemic and change in working conditions. The effects of working hours and workload changes still need further discussion. However, the reduced salary level by 41.6% of our respondents was a noticeable fact related to a lowered quality of life.
Table 4: Your working hour
|
Option |
Overall |
Male |
Female |
|
Significantly increased |
9.5% |
10.2% |
8.8% |
|
Slightly increased |
14.1% |
13.8% |
14.4% |
|
Same |
51.9% |
49.6% |
54.4% |
|
Slightly decreased |
14.1% |
11.6% |
16.8% |
|
Significantly decreased |
10.3% |
14.5% |
5.6% |
Table 5: Your workload
|
Option |
Overall |
Male |
Female |
|
Significantly increased |
10.7% |
10.9% |
10.4% |
|
Slightly increased |
24.8% |
27.0% |
22.4% |
|
Same |
43.5% |
39.4% |
48.0% |
|
Slightly decreased |
13.4% |
12.4% |
14.4% |
|
Significantly decreased |
7.6% |
10.2% |
4.8% |
Table 6: Your salary level
|
Option |
Overall |
Male |
Female |
|
Significantly increased |
1.5% |
0.7% |
2.4% |
|
Slightly increased |
5.0% |
3.6% |
6.4% |
|
Same |
51.9% |
52.5% |
51.2% |
|
Slightly decreased |
24.8% |
21.1% |
28.8% |
|
Significantly decreased |
16.8% |
21.8% |
11.2% |
(3) The biggest concern: COVID-19 infection
From the investigation, around 70% of the interviewees worried about infecting COVID-19 from working. The question of “source of work-related pressure” received 48.5% of responses of “concern of COVID-19 infection” (in Table 7), which is the primary source of pressure of our participant.
Also, around 84% of the respondents thought that COVID-19 infection from working should be classified as work-related injury. As our team described in the previous report, the announcement issued on 23rd January 2020 by Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Finance and National Health Commission listed the applicable job position for COVID-19 caused work-related injuries recognition: medical-related staff who worked for COVID-19 prevention and treatment and infected COVID-19 or died due to COVID-19 infection when performing job duties. From this announcement, it was clear that employees in other positions were not qualified for work-related injuries recognition. However, public recognition diverged from the official announcement. There are two possible reasons for the deviation: lack of promotion of the relevant policy, and most employees were inclined to be recognized as work-related injury regardless of the nature of work.
Table 7: Are you worrying about infecting COVID-19 due to working?
|
Option |
Ratio |
|
Seriously worried |
29% |
|
Worried |
41% |
|
Not worried |
30% |
(4) Over 70% of participants had difficulties in life and more than 30% worried about unemployment
Regarding the influences from COVID-19 outbreak, around 71.2% of the respondents mentioned difficulties in life (18.3% found serious difficulties). 33.2% of the interviewees showed concern about losing their job and nearly half of our interviewees (48.5%) worried about COVID-19 infection.
Table 8: Influences on your life
|
Option |
Overall |
Male |
Female |
|
Caused serious difficulties in life |
18.3% |
22.6% |
13.6% |
|
Caused some difficulties in life |
53.4% |
51.8% |
55.2% |
|
No influence |
15.3% |
16.8% |
13.6% |
|
Improved quality of life |
8.0% |
5.8% |
10.4% |
|
Others |
5.0% |
2.9% |
7.2% |
Table 9: Source of work-related pressure
|
Option |
Overall |
Male |
Female |
|
Worry about unemployment |
33.2% |
35.8% |
30.4% |
|
Worry about COVID-19 infection |
48.5% |
48.2% |
48.8% |
|
Worry about salary payment delay |
24.0% |
24.8% |
23.2% |
|
Others |
45.8% |
16.1% |
31.2% |
2.2 Issues related to disease prevention and quarantine
(1) More than 90% of our participants needed to wear protective gear while only 58.6% employers distributed free gear
Among our interviewed workers in Henan Province, 91.1% of the 204 currently working workers were compulsory to wear protective gear during working (4% higher than that in Phase 2 report). However, only 58.6% of the working respondents received free protective gears (16% lower than that in Phase 2 report).
(2) 4.5% of the participants were quarantined: labour right issues during quarantine period
About 4.6% of the interviewed workers in Henan Province were quarantined. Among the quarantined workers, 25% were quarantined for free and 17% paid by the employers. Half of the quarantined participants need to pay the quarantine fee by themselves. Also, only 17% of the quarantined workers in our survey received full salary payment while 50% received no payment.
Table 10: Who paid the quarantine fee?
|
Option |
Ratio |
|
Self-funded |
50% |
|
Employer |
17% |
|
Employee and Employer |
8% |
|
No charge |
25% |
Table 11: How many payments did you receive during the quarantine?
|
Option |
Ratio |
|
Full Payment |
17% |
|
Basic Payment |
25% |
|
No Payment |
50% |
|
Other |
8% |
(3) Changes in labour right issues
Both the employers and the employees suffered from the epidemic and many employees showed sympathy for the difficult conditions of their companies. However, problems were found on the employer side.
We analyzed the responses from 128 participants with employment relationship between their employer by comparing the 93 workers who started their current job before 23rd January 2020 and 35 workers started working later than that day. The ratio of contract signing and social insurance purchasing were the main factor under comparison.
a) Unsatisfactory rate of contract signing and social insurance purchasing: worsened after COVID-19
Table 12.1: Did you receive five Insurances from your employer?
|
Started working Time |
Signed employment contract (including the employees who did not hold a copy) |
Five Insurances purchased by the employer |
|
Before 23rd January 2020 |
50.5% |
37.6% |
|
After 23rd January 2020 |
34.3% |
17.1% |
|
|
Reduced 16.2% after COVID-19 outbreak |
Reduced 10.5% after COVID-19 outbreak |
Table 12.2: Did you receive five Insurances from your employer?
|
Started Working Time |
Work-related injuries insurance only |
Business insurance only |
|
Before 23rd January 2020 |
7.5% |
7.5% |
|
After 23rd January 2020 |
5.7% |
8.6% |
|
|
Reduced 1.8% after COVID-19 outbreak |
Increased1.1% after COVID-19 outbreak |
As shown in Table 12, the interviewed workers in Henan Province had an unsatisfactory rate of signing employment contract and buying social insurances. Before the epidemic, only half of them signed employment contract and only 37.6% had their social insurances purchased by the employers. After the epidemic outbreak, the rate of employment contract signing reduced by 16.2% (34.3% after COVID-19), and only 17.1% of their employers purchased social insurances, with a reduction of 10.5%。
Employment contract signing and social insurances purchasing are the legal responsibilities of the employers. Also, the contract and social insurances are essential proof of employment relationship recognition. Social insurances protect the workers effectively when work-related injuries or occupational diseases occur. Henan Province needs to improve the labour right issues related to employment contract and social insurances.
Table 13 listed the ratio of contract signing ratio and social insurance purchasing by each gender. Except for the option of “only work-related injuries insurance purchased” had a difference more than 6.6%, other factors showed no significant gender differences.
Table 13.1: Did you receive five Insurances from your employer?
|
|
Signed employment contract (including the employees who did not hold a copy) |
Five Insurances purchased by the employer |
|
male |
44.3% |
32.9% |
|
female |
48.3% |
31.0% |
|
Difference (female-male) |
+4% |
-1.9% |
Table 13.2: Did you receive five Insurances from your employer?
|
|
Work-related injuries insurance only |
Business insurance only |
|
male |
10.0% |
7.1% |
|
female |
3.4% |
8.6% |
|
Difference (female-male) |
-6.6% |
+1.5% |
b) More than 40% of employers made important decisions related to labour right without democratic negotiation
From Table 14, around 41.1% of the interviewees indicated the existence of labour right violation by their employers. 44.5% of the male interviewees claimed that the employers made crucial decisions related to labour right without democratic negotiation, and 24.0% of female interviewees reported this problem. Details available in the following table.
Table 14: Do you think your employer has the following behaviours?
|
Option |
Overall |
male |
female |
|
Reduced the salary without democratic negotiation with the worker |
12.50% |
13.1% |
7.2% |
|
Changed job duties without democratic negotiation with the worker |
9.38% |
7.3% |
7.2% |
|
Lowered the job position without democratic negotiation with the worker |
6.25% |
4.4% |
4.8% |
|
Incomplete payment of salary during the delayed work resumption period |
8.59% |
12.4% |
4.0% |
|
Pay no salary during the work halted period or on leave |
25.78% |
22.6% |
13.6% |
|
Decide the lay-off or work-halted employee list without democratic negotiation with the workers |
4.69% |
5.1% |
2.4% |
|
None of the above |
58.59% |
55.5% |
76.0% |
3.Conclusion
COVID-19 caused global influences and revealed a series of social problems worldwide. From the research, we indicated the basic labour right problems of labour contract and social insurance in Henan Province and the issue had existed before the epidemic outbreak.
There are still gaps in understanding of labour right issues in China for further research and support. Policy-level support, social attention and public understanding are required.
* This report was written by a labour organization in Guangdong province, and the author owns the copyright. It is prohibited to reprint this article without the author's permission.
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