The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China explicitly requires strengthening the protection of the rights and interests of workers in flexible employment and new forms of employment.

　　To support and regulate the development of new forms of employment and strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment, the General Office of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued the "Guidelines on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Workers in New Forms of Employment with Respect to Rest and Labor Remuneration" (hereinafter referred to as the "Rights Protection Guidelines"), the "Guidelines on the Public Disclosure of Labor Rules for Workers in New Forms of Employment" (hereinafter referred to as the "Rules Disclosure Guidelines"), and the "Service Guide for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Workers in New Forms of Employment" (hereinafter referred to as the "Service Guide"). Recently, a relevant official of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security provided an interpretation of issues related to the two guidelines and one guide.

　　Better Safeguarding Rights and Interests

　　In accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the central authorities, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, together with relevant departments, has proactively adapted to the development and changes of new forms of employment, issued guiding opinions on safeguarding the labor security rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment, as well as special rights protection policies for key groups such as food delivery workers and ride-hailing drivers, reasonably defined enterprises' labor protection responsibilities, and innovated institutional mechanisms for protecting the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment.

　　"On this basis, the introduction of a series of guidelines and guides is an active exploration of new methods and new measures to safeguard the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment in response to new changes in enterprises' employment methods and workers' forms of employment, which is conducive to promoting quality and efficiency improvements in the protection of the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment," the official said.

　　One of the purposes of issuing the series of guidelines and guides is to provide guidance and services for enterprise employment.

　　It is reported that in the process of guiding and promoting enterprises to implement relevant policies and regulations, enterprises have reflected that the relevant policies and regulations are relatively general and that they hope for more operational implementation measures to facilitate enterprises' accurate understanding and comprehensive implementation. "The series of guidelines and guides meet the practical needs of enterprises for compliant employment, are positioned to strengthen targeted guidance for enterprises, and help guide platform enterprises and their employment cooperation enterprises to improve employment management systems, improve management methods, gradually raise the level of protection of the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment, enhance workers' sense of identity with and cohesion toward enterprises, improve corporate social image, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of enterprises," the official said.

　　Building on previous research, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security continued to carry out extensive and in-depth research. In response to prominent issues such as excessively long working hours for some workers in new forms of employment, unclear application of minimum wage standards, insufficient openness and transparency in the formulation of platform rules, and the need to further unblock rights protection service channels, it summarized and distilled good experiences and practices, fully listened to opinions and suggestions from all parties, and transformed and condensed research findings into the series of guidelines and guides.

　　Determining the Scope of Application

　　In terms of scope of application, the "Rights Protection Guidelines" and the "Rules Disclosure Guidelines" apply to workers in new forms of employment who accept online work tasks such as delivery, travel, transportation, and domestic services published by internet platforms, provide platform online appointment services in accordance with platform requirements, and obtain labor remuneration through labor. The "Service Guide" applies to all workers in new forms of employment, but commercial disputes involving new forms of employment do not apply to this guide.

　　In terms of content, the "Rights Protection Guidelines" aim to guide enterprises in safeguarding the rest and labor remuneration rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment. The guidelines consist of four chapters and 14 articles, clarifying the purpose of issuance and scope of application; proposing methods for calculating working hours and rest methods for workers in new forms of employment; proposing that enterprises formulate labor remuneration rules through equal consultation with trade unions or representatives of workers in new forms of employment; and emphasizing that rest and the application of minimum wage standards for workers in new forms of employment who meet the circumstances for establishing labor relations must comply with current labor laws and regulations.

　　The "Rules Disclosure Guidelines" consist of 8 articles and aim to guide enterprises in improving the fairness and transparency of labor rules and safeguarding the right to know and right to participate of workers in new forms of employment. The guidelines make clear that when platform enterprises formulate or revise labor rules, they must openly solicit opinions from workers, fully listen to the opinions and suggestions of trade unions or worker representatives, and publicly disclose the rules to workers at least 7 days before determining implementation. In addition, it is stipulated that platform enterprises must, in prominent positions such as applications, in clear and easy-to-understand language, truthfully, accurately, and continuously disclose relevant content, ensure that workers can conveniently view the complete content at any time, and provide channels for feedback of relevant opinions and suggestions.

　　The "Service Guide" consists of five chapters and 22 articles, guiding enterprises to establish and improve normalized communication mechanisms with workers in new forms of employment and appeal mechanisms for workers in new forms of employment, encouraging the establishment of enterprise labor dispute mediation committees, and clarifying the channels through which workers in new forms of employment can resolve conflicts and disputes within enterprises; emphasizing that trade unions should actively absorb workers in new forms of employment into unions, supervise enterprises' performance of employment responsibilities, promote platform enterprises' establishment of normalized communication and consultation mechanisms, and provide services such as legal aid to workers in new forms of employment; guiding workers in new forms of employment to safeguard their rights and interests through statutory rights protection service channels, and encouraging local exploration and innovation of labor dispute handling mechanisms for new forms of employment and the establishment of "one-stop" dispute handling institutions for new forms of employment.

　　Reasonably Expressing Demands

　　"When safeguarding their own labor rights and interests, workers in new forms of employment should express their demands reasonably in accordance with the law and must not adopt illegal or extreme forms," the official pointed out. When workers in new forms of employment believe that their labor rights and interests have been infringed, they may safeguard their lawful rights and interests in accordance with the law through multiple methods. Specifically, they may resolve relevant issues through consultation with enterprises via internal communication channels, appeal mechanisms, dispute mediation institutions, and other channels set up by platform enterprises or platform employment cooperation enterprises, and may also request support and assistance from their trade union organizations or local trade union organizations.

　　If workers cannot resolve or are unwilling to resolve relevant issues through consultation with enterprises, they may apply for mediation to people's mediation committees and professional labor dispute mediation organizations at all levels and of various types. If they are unwilling to mediate, or if mediation fails, and the matter falls within the scope of cases accepted for labor dispute arbitration, they may apply for arbitration to the labor and personnel dispute arbitration institution in the place where they actually work; if it does not fall within the scope of cases accepted for labor dispute arbitration, they may file a lawsuit with a people's court having jurisdiction in accordance with the relevant provisions of civil litigation. If workers in new forms of employment apply for labor dispute arbitration or file a lawsuit with a people's court, they may apply to trade union organizations for services such as legal aid. If they meet the conditions for legal aid, they may also apply for legal aid services at the nearest legal aid institution.

　　In addition, for matters falling within the scope of labor security supervision authority, workers in new forms of employment may also report and complain to labor security supervision institutions.