The Beijing-based Internet Society of China, a trade union of China’s internet companies, has signed a proposal with 14 internet companies, urging them to care more about their employees, China’s state Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, JD.com, Didi, Ele.me, and Meituan are among these 14 companies, which have been called upon to respect their employees’ work, shoulder corporate responsibilities and obligations, and share corporate development results with their staff.
This proposal, which was compiled by the trade union under the guidance of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China, comes after several layoff scandals.
Earlier last year, JD.com cancelled the base salaries for its couriers, triggering widespread outcries from those affected and inciting public anger.
Late last year, NetEase was caught in a scandal as it fired a critically ill employee without proper reasons and without legality. This employee said he worked on a 996 scheme in a row and still never came late the next day but was eventually kicked out of the company.
Huawei caused even more outrage as it subjected its former employee Li Hongyuan to 251 days in prison, which finally turned out to be a wrongful detention. However, Huawei is not among the 14 companies that signed the proposal.