The Implementation of Wage Payment Obligation when the Employer Stops Work:A Study Under the Background of COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanisms of the implementation of wage (including the living expenses) payment obligation when the employer stops its work or production, and to evaluate the Chinese experience of continuous wage payment in the process of the prevention and control of COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach - Based on the law, regulation, and administrative interpretation of the obligation of continuous wage payment, this paper focuses on how the employer chooses wage payment strategies of enforce labor law in the process of epidemic prevention and control. Drawing on the risk burden theory, the theory of corporate social responsibility, and the relational theory within the enterprise organization, this paper studies the general approach of the continuous wage payment rules in view of the judicial practice, administrative enforcement and labor relations especially under the background of COVID-19 pandemic. Findings - Following the two-way feedback mechanism of legal rules, legal interpretation and legal practice, this paper finds three characters in the implementation of continuous wage payment (a) the administrative interpretation of labor law has not been paid attention to for a long time, but it has played an important role in epidemic prevention and control;(b) the wage payment obligation without equal consideration has been obeyed in the practice of epidemic prevention and control, and its vague problems even has been resolved by a feasible and realistic explanation;(c) the practice of epidemic prevention and control provides a sample of general application of continuous wage payment rules,which is different from the marketoriented layoffs. Research limitations/implications - This paper is an discussion on a kind of macro implementation and its effect, which does not mean that every enterprise would choose so in the micro level, but only indicates that most enterprises abide by and carry out the administrative orders during the period of the prevention and control of the virus COVID-19. This paper provides answers for how to interpret the rules of continuous wage payment in judicial, and affirms that the great anti-COVID-19 actions and the traditional enterprise culture in China provide support for stable employment and healthy labor relations during the epidemic situation. Originality/value - This study develops the theory of operating risk burden work and puts forward the relational theory within the enterprise organization instead of the theory of corporate social responsibility. This paper contributes to the legal theory of wage protection in the context of epidemic situation and provide the Chinese experience of human resources management in anti- virus practice.