Research On The Function And Content Of Labor Contract Cancellation Or Termination Certificate

An employer bears the legal obligation of issuing labor contract cancellation or termination certificate at the time of rescission or termination.There have been more and more disputes between employers and employees regarding what to record in the labor contract cancellation or termination certificate,and such dispute has become a kind of typical case.Although employees rely on the certificate to request unemployment insurance benefits and to find a new job,the current laws and regulations do not give clear guidelines on the function and content of the certificate.It is necessary and significant to discuss the function and content of the certificate so that we can define employers’ obligation accurately.This article is mainly carried out in the following four parts: The first part makes statistical analysis on disputes arising from the disagreement on what employers should record in the labor contract cancellation or termination certificate,and then introduces the relevant laws and regulations to put up with the question this article is going to talk about.The second part compares the labor contract cancellation or termination certificate with service letter and employment reference to find the difference.After that,this part analyses employers’ obligation,finding we can interpret employers’ such obligation from two aspects,one is from unemployment insurance aspect and another is from labor turnover aspect.And the content of labor contract cancellation or termination certificate shall reflect both of the two functions.The third part discusses whether the labor contract cancellation or termination certificate shall have the function of promoting free flow of information.This article holds the view,based on analysis about the benefits and adverse effect of free flow of information in labor market,the labor contract cancellation or termination certificate shall not have the function of promoting free flow of information.The fourth part tries to answer the question what to record in the labor contract cancellation or termination certificate.This article comes to a conclusion,based on the experience from overseas and discussion about the rights and interests among different parties,the content recorded in labor contract cancellation or termination certificate shall comply with three principles: be favorable to employees,be objective and be relevant to work.Further,the law shall make a clear rule what can be and should be recorded in the labor contract cancellation or termination certificate.And employers,unless otherwiserequested by the employee,should not add other information.When faced with the request to add other information,employers can not reject unless they can prove the request from employees is inconsistent with the facts.In the end,this article suggests we should make an adjustment to Article 24 in Implementation Regulations for the Labor Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China.Article 24 should be amended as this-Any labor contract cancellation or termination certificate issued by an employer shall only record the term of the labor contract,the date on which it is cancelled or terminated,the position held by the employee and the employee’s length of service.Unless otherwise requested by the employee,the employer shall not add other information.If the employee requests to add other information in the labor contract cancellation or termination certificate,the employer shall not reject unless he can prove the employee’s request has no factual basis.