Reluctant to pay severance pay, this company moves to the mountains so its employees resign
Work Illustration/Photo: Shutterstock
- An advertising company from China deliberately moved its office located in the middle of the city to a remote mountain. It is said that this transfer was deliberately carried out so that employees did not feel comfortable working and chose to resign.
Launching SCMP, Saturday (13/1/2024), the method for moving offices was revealed after one of the former employees surnamed Chang shared his story on social media. With this method, the company does not need to lay off workers and is free from the obligation to pay severance pay or compensation even if it wants to reduce the number of employees.
Based on Chang's information, the company had moved its offices to the middle of the Qinling Mountains. It was explained that the location of the office was very remote and was approximately two hours' drive from the nearest public transportation access.
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"My colleagues who don't have private vehicles have to rely on buses that leave every three hours and then walk another three kilometers through mountain paths to reach the office," said Chang.
Meanwhile, if employees want to use public transportation such as taxis, from the nearest train station to the office it can cost up to 60 yuan or IDR 132 thousand (exchange rate IDR 2,200/yuan) one way. What's worse, the company doesn't want to reimburse transportation costs or provide other compensation.
Not only that, Chang also said that his new office did not have adequate facilities and was prone to danger considering its position in a remote mountain.
He said female employees had to use public toilets in the nearest village which could only be reached on foot, and it was also very far from the office location. Then when I got home from work, the area around the office was very dark and there were lots of stray dogs making the area even more dangerous.
Facing this very unpleasant condition, 14 out of more than 20 employees finally gave up and signed a resignation agreement after filing various protests but failed.
What's worse, Chang said that only four days after the resignations, the company had moved back to the city center and was actively recruiting new staff.
The employees who resigned then became suspicious of the company which had deliberately created these conditions so that they would resign. However, the company representative, Zhang, denied this claim, arguing that the move to move the office was only a temporary measure to reduce costs.
"Rents for buildings in the central business district (midtown) are expensive and the new office is being renovated. We operate a homestay, so we moved there temporarily for a week," said the office representative.
Therefore, Zhang said the company would take legal action against employees who shared their stories on social media on suspicion of defaming the company and potentially causing business losses.
However, Zhang's clarification was immediately denied by another employee who said that the company had informed the company that this office relocation could take quite a long time.
"We were told that the working period in the mountains could be very long, perhaps until next year. If it's only a week, who can't stand these working conditions?" said one employee.
Ogah Bayar Pesangon, Perusahaan Ini Pindah ke Gunung Biar Pegawainya Resign
Ilustrasi Kerja/Foto: Shutterstock
- Sebuah perusahaan periklanan asal China secara sengaja memindahkan kantornya yang terletak di tengah kota ke pelosok gunung. Pemindahan ini disebut-sebut sengaja dilakukan agar para karyawan tidak betah bekerja dan memilih mengundurkan diri.
Melansir SCMP, Sabtu (13/1/2024), modus pindah kantor ini terungkap setelah salah satu mantan karyawan bermarga Chang membagikan ceritanya di media sosial. Dengan modus ini perusahaan tidak perlu melakukan PHK dan terbebas dari kewajiban membayar pesangon atau uang kompensasi meski hendak melakukan pengurangan jumlah pegawai.
Berdasarkan keterangan Chang, perusahaan itu sempat memindahkan kantornya ke tengah Pegunungan Qinling. Dijelaskan lokasi kantor itu jadi sangat terpencil dan berjarak kurang-lebih dua jam perjalanan dari akses transportasi umum terdekat.
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"Rekan-rekan saya yang tidak memiliki kendaraan pribadi harus bergantung pada bus yang berangkat setiap tiga jam sekali dan dilanjut dengan berjalan kaki sejauh tiga kilometer lagi melalui jalur pegunungan untuk mencapai kantor," kata Chang.
Sedangkan bila karyawan ingin menggunakan transportasi umum seperti taksi, dari stasiun kereta terdekat sampai ke kantor bisa memakan biaya hingga 60 yuan atau Rp 132 ribu (kurs Rp 2.200/yuan) sekali jalan. Parahnya perusahaan tidak mau mengganti biaya transportasi tersebut atau memberi kompensasi lain.
Tidak hanya itu, Chang juga bercerita kantor barunya itu tidak memiliki fasilitas memadai dan rawan bahaya mengingat posisinya yang berada di pelosok gunung.
Dia mengatakan para pegawai perempuan harus menggunakan toilet umum di desa terdekat yang hanya bisa ditempuh dengan berjalan kaki, itu pun jaraknya sangat jauh dari lokasi kantor. Kemudian saat pulang kerja, lokasi sekitar kantor sangatlah gelap dan banyak anjing liar membuat kawasan itu semakin berbahaya.
Menghadapi kondisi yang sangat tidak menyenangkan ini, 14 dari 20 lebih karyawan akhirnya menyerah dan menandatangani perjanjian pengunduran diri usai mengajukan berbagai macam protes namun gagal.
Parahnya, Chang mengatakan hanya berselang empat hari usai para mengundurkan diri, perusahaan tersebut telah pindah kembali ke pusat kota dan secara aktif merekrut staf baru.
Para karyawan yang mengundurkan diri lantas menaruh curiga pada perusahaan yang sengaja menciptakan kondisi tersebut agar mereka mengundurkan diri. Namun perwakilan perusahaan, Zhang, membantah klaim tersebut dengan alasan langkah pemindahan kantor ini hanyalah tindakan sementara untuk mengurangi biaya.
"Sewa bangunan di kawasan pusat bisnis (tengah kota) mahal dan kantor baru sedang direnovasi. Kami mengoperasikan homestay, jadi kami pindah sementara ke sana selama seminggu," ujar perwakilan kantor tersebut.
Karenanya Zhang mengatakan pihak perusahaan akan melakukan tindakan hukum terhadap karyawan yang membagikan ceritanya ke media sosial atas dugaan pencemaran nama baik perusahaan dan berpotensi menimbulkan kerugian bisnis.
Meski begitu klarifikasi dari Zhang ini langsung dibantah oleh karyawan lain yang mengatakan para karyawan diberitahu perusahaan jika pemindahan kantor ini bisa saja berlangsung dalam kurun waktu yang cukup lama.
"Kami diberitahu masa kerja di pegunungan bisa sangat lama, mungkin sampai tahun depan. Kalau hanya seminggu, siapa yang tidak tahan dengan kondisi kerja ini?" kata salah satu karyawan.