Wang* v. Panke Health Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.: Employment dispute — first-instance civil judgment

Civil Judgment

Plaintiff: Wang*, male, born on ****年**月**日 [date masked in the source].

Defendant: Panke Health Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., domiciled at Rooms 305–306, Building 1, No. 16 Chaowai Dajie, Chaoyang District, Beijing.

Legal representative: Yifeng Zhang, chairman of the board.

Authorized representative: Li Xiaoxia, lawyer at Beijing Zhongyou Law Firm.

After accepting the employment dispute between plaintiff Wang* (hereinafter the “plaintiff”) and defendant Panke Health Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter the “defendant”), this Court duly constituted a collegiate bench and held a public hearing. The plaintiff and the defendant’s authorized representative Li Xiaoxia appeared and participated in the proceedings. The proceedings have now concluded.

The plaintiff stated: “I was formerly employed by the defendant as design director, and we entered into an employment contract. We later terminated the employment relationship and signed a departure agreement. The defendant promised to pay me wages and reimbursements totaling CNY 124,058.90 by 30 September 2013, but thereafter refused to pay those amounts. I then applied for arbitration to the Beijing Chaoyang District Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Commission (hereinafter the ‘Chaoyang Arbitration Commission’), which declined to accept the application. I therefore brought proceedings in court, seeking an order that the defendant pay me wages of CNY 95,318.30 and reimbursements of CNY 28,740.60, totaling CNY 124,058.90.”

The defendant responded: “We do not agree to the plaintiff’s claims. The plaintiff was indeed an employee of our company, and the relevant agreement was signed, but our company’s business is currently performing poorly and we are unable to pay the arrears.”

The Court found after hearing the case: The plaintiff joined the defendant on 1 March 2013 as design director, at a monthly wage of CNY 17,950.75. On 1 March 2013, the parties entered into an employment contract for the period from 1 March 2013 to 29 February 2016. The plaintiff last worked on 31 August 2013, and the employment relationship ended that day.

The plaintiff further contended that the parties had mutually agreed to terminate the employment relationship, completed the handover on 11 September 2013, and signed a departure agreement providing that the defendant would pay his wages and reimbursements by 30 September 2013. In support, the plaintiff submitted: (1) a departure handover form showing completion of the handover between him and the defendant, bearing the defendant’s official seal; (2) a departure agreement stating that his last actual working day with the defendant was 31 August 2013 and that, after he completed all handover tasks, the defendant would pay him wages and other expenses of CNY 124,058.90 before 30 September 2013; and (3) a wage breakdown showing total wages payable of CNY 115,314.07, total wages paid of CNY 19,995.77, unpaid wages of CNY 95,318.30, reimbursements of CNY 28,740.60, and a total unpaid amount of CNY 124,058.90, bearing the defendant’s official seal. The defendant acknowledged that the parties had mutually agreed to terminate the employment relationship and had signed the departure agreement, but said that business difficulties had prevented payment of the sums stipulated in the agreement. Its comments on the evidence were: (1) it accepted the authenticity of the seal on the departure handover form but said the company had not affixed it and disputed the form’s contents; (2) it accepted the authenticity of the departure agreement but said the agreed amounts had not been paid because of business difficulties; and (3) it accepted the authenticity of the seal on the wage breakdown but said the company had not affixed it and disputed its contents.

The Court further found that, on 20 June 2014, the plaintiff applied to the Chaoyang Arbitration Commission for employment arbitration of the parties’ dispute, requesting payment of wages, reimbursements, and other amounts. The commission subsequently issued Notice of Non-Acceptance Jing Chao Lao Zhong Bu Zi (2014) No. 01174, deciding not to accept the application. The plaintiff disagreed and brought these proceedings.

The foregoing facts are supported by the parties’ statements, the notice of non-acceptance, the departure agreement, the wage breakdown, the departure handover form, and other material in the record.

This Court holds: In an employment dispute, each party bears responsibility for producing evidence supporting its own assertions. Where evidence relating to the disputed matter is held and managed by the employer, the employer must produce it; failure to do so entails adverse consequences. In this case, both parties acknowledged that the employment relationship had ended and that they had signed a departure agreement. The defendant also accepted the authenticity of the departure agreement submitted by the plaintiff, so this Court accepts that agreement as evidence. It provided that the defendant was to pay the defendant [sic; see translation note 2] wages and other expenses of CNY 124,058.90 by 30 September 2013, but the defendant has not paid. Considering the parties’ statements together with the plaintiff’s evidence, this Court accepts the plaintiff’s claim and holds that the defendant must pay the plaintiff the wages and other expenses stipulated in the departure agreement, totaling CNY 124,058.90.

Accordingly, pursuant to Article 6 of the Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Court renders judgment as follows:

Defendant Panke Health Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. shall pay plaintiff Wang* the wages and other expenses stipulated in the departure agreement, totaling CNY 124,058.90, within ten days after this judgment becomes effective.

If the monetary obligation is not performed within the period specified in this judgment, debt interest for the period of delayed performance shall be paid at the doubled rate in accordance with Article 253 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China.

The case acceptance fee of CNY 10 shall be borne by defendant Panke Health Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and paid within seven days after this judgment becomes effective.

A party dissatisfied with this judgment may, within fifteen days after service of the judgment, submit a notice of appeal to this Court with copies corresponding to the number of opposing parties, appealing to the Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court.

23 October 2014.