As employers were impacted by the epidemic, some workers did not get the year-end bonus after the Spring Festival. Must the year-end bonus be paid? Can the year-end bonus due to the "shrinkage" or even "evaporation" of the epidemic come back? The lawyer said that the law does not force the employer to pay the year-end bonus, which depends on whether there is an agreement or rules and regulations. After the Spring Festival, the 27 year old English training institution teacher looked forward to getting the year-end bonus of the previous year. Warm is mainly responsible for English training for studying abroad. Affected by the epidemic, the number of people studying abroad has decreased significantly, and the operation of her institution is also in trouble. Before the epidemic, every year at the end and beginning of the year, like other employees, tens of thousands of yuan of year-end bonus can be received. In the past two years, most of us are comforting each other: "I don't know how long the company can last. It's not easy to pay wages normally. Where dare we expect the year-end bonus?" In the discussion on the "year-end bonus" on the social platform, "not getting the year-end bonus" has become a "pain point" for many workers. Should I get the year-end bonus? Can the year-end bonus "shrunk" or even "evaporated" due to the epidemic and other reasons be returned? Salary or welfare is controversial Recently, the Research Report on 2021 white-collar year-end bonus released by Zhilian recruitment shows that 36.6% of white-collar workers can get the year-end bonus in 2021, up from 27.6% in 2020 and 33.3% in 2019, but still lower than 55.2% in 2018 and 66.1% in 2017. The survey shows that 68.9% of white-collar workers believe that the year-end bonus is the reward they deserve for a year of work, 36.1% of white-collar workers believe that the year-end bonus is the recognition and respect of the enterprise, and 31.4% believe that the year-end bonus is a material means to stimulate their work enthusiasm. The reporter learned that some units refer to the year-end bonus as thirteen salaries, some units refer to it with goal completion bonus and year-end auxiliary fund, and some employers issue various rewards such as shopping vouchers, stocks and options instead of cash. Due to different names and unclear definition of nature, some employers and workers have a deviation in their understanding of the year-end bonus, resulting in disputes. "If you can't get the year-end bonus, whether you can 'protect your rights' to the employer depends on whether the non issuance of the year-end bonus infringes on the right of workers to receive remuneration. Further, you need to judge whether the nature of the year-end bonus is a part of workers' wages or a simple welfare." Nie Yangcheng, a lawyer at Beijing Jinzhong law firm, said that some companies distribute prizes in the form of annual meeting lottery, which is random, and these rewards should be regarded as welfare. As for the year-end bonus and thirteen salaries linked to the company's operation, employees' personal work performance and actual performance, Nie Yangcheng believes that these belong to the category of bonus. According to the provisions on the composition of total wages and its interpretation, they belong to salary in nature. However, the law does not stipulate that the employer must pay the year-end bonus to the worker. Whether it is paid or not depends on whether the employer and the worker have made an agreement on it and whether the rules and regulations of the unit have such provisions. Advocate that the year-end bonus must be supported by evidence "The plaintiff's salary is subject to the post salary system, and the company's salary management regulations" Clearly, the salary of employees shall be distributed in the way of salary + bonus, and the post salary, allowance and other benefits shall be determined according to the position. The bonus is a kind of salary paid in monetary form after the assessment of the actual work. The plaintiff can claim the bonus from October 20, 2020 to December 31, 2020. " Recently, the lawsuit of Liu GUI, an employee of a refining and chemical company, about the year-end bonus was supported by the court. Because the company's salary management regulations clearly stipulated the content of bonus, the court required the company to pay year-end bonus to workers. However, the reporter found in the interview that many workers face the situation that the labor contract does not stipulate the matters related to the year-end bonus, and the company's rules and regulations do not stipulate the year-end bonus. In judicial practice, the proposition of year-end bonus without basis is often difficult to obtain legal support. In November 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, Liu Han's Tourism Investment Co., Ltd. was greatly impacted. In March 2021, Liu Han resigned and claimed that the total year-end bonus from January 2020 to March 2021 was 150000 yuan. The court held that the year-end bonus should be a matter independently decided by the company. There is no evidence to show that there are clear and specific provisions on the accounting and distribution of the year-end bonus in the company's rules and regulations, and there is no sufficient evidence to show that the company has determined the specific amount of the year-end bonus in 2020. Therefore, it does not support Liu Han's request. Gong Xue, 34, also encountered the same situation. She worked as a customer service supervisor in an express company for 7 years. In January 2021, Gong Xue resigned after reaching an agreement with the company and advocated the 2020 year-end bonus. The court held that the labor contract signed by both parties did not stipulate that the company must pay year-end bonus to Gong Xue, and did not support her request. He Jianchi, a lawyer of Zhejiang Sida law firm, believes that in addition to the salary bonus separately agreed by both parties in the labor contract or salary confirmation form and other documents, the employer has the right to determine whether to pay, conditions and standards for the payment of various bonuses such as year-end bonus according to the comprehensive factors such as the operation status of the unit, the working position and performance of workers. Xiao Wu works in a transportation engineering company. Due to the poor performance of the company due to the epidemic last year, the year-end bonus came to naught. He wondered: will the year-end bonus "evaporated" due to the epidemic come back? "As a force majeure, the epidemic has had a great impact on many enterprises across the country. Relying only on the payment over the years, enterprises are required to pay year-end bonuses this year, which is not based on enough basis." He Jianchi said. Having autonomy does not mean being willful "Although employers have a certain autonomy in the payment of year-end bonuses, the exercise of this autonomy cannot be done at will." He Jianchi said. "The unit deducted 10% of our performance salary as the year-end bonus". When the year-end bonus was issued, Tu Hong, who worked in a private enterprise, found that the 5000 yuan year-end bonus deducted from the monthly performance salary actually "shrunk" to 1000 yuan, and "there is also a management fee for this 1000 yuan". Deduct a part of the workers' due salary as the year-end bonus, issue the year-end bonus in the form of annual meeting lottery, while ordinary employees only have a hundred yuan red envelope of "sunshine", refuse to issue the year-end bonus on the grounds of unqualified assessment, but can not get the assessment basis, replace the bonus with company products, illegally dismiss employees before issuing the year-end bonus, and refuse to issue the year-end bonus on the grounds of resignation... In reality, Some employers act willfully by relying on the autonomy of issuing year-end bonuses. "If the payment standard, payment conditions and payment time of the year-end bonus are determined through the labor contract or rules and regulations, they shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions, and cannot be unilaterally changed or cancelled at will. Changing the content of the labor contract requires consensus with the workers." Nie Yangcheng reminded. Previously, the Beijing Second Intermediate People's court had combed the cases involving year-end awards. The results show that when claiming to win the year-end bonus, most workers have a weak sense of evidence. They can only say that the two sides have made an "oral agreement", but they can not produce effective evidence. Therefore, the winning rate is low. In this regard, he Jianchi suggested that if the employer has oral commitments on salary and year-end bonus payment, the employee should try his best to require that the oral agreement be written into the written labor contract, and pay attention to retaining relevant evidence, such as labor contract, reward and punishment system, bonus payment regulations and peacetime performance evaluation. (some respondents are pseudonyms) (Xinhua News Agency)