Typical Predicaments And Countermeasures For The Protection Of The Rights And Interests Of Remote Office Workers

Since the 21 st century,with the development of Internet and high technology,telecommuting mode has gradually emerged and been widely used.However,at the same time,a series of problems have been exposed,among which the dilemma of protecting the rights and interests of telecommuting workers has become increasingly prominent.In 2019,after the outbreak of the COVID-19,many regions in China have formulated corresponding documents for telecommuting,mainly in terms of resumption of work and production,work system,protection of women’s rights and interests,and labor disputes.However,in practice,due to the lagging nature of legislation,there are still some shortcomings and deficiencies in the protection of telecommuting workers’ rights and interests under the existing regulations.In terms of working hours system,the standard of working hours is not uniform,and it is difficult to apply the rule of "commuting",and the definition of overtime is not clear.Regarding the right to privacy,the employer’s right to know and the worker’s right to personal information are in conflict,and it is difficult to prove.As for the determination of work injury,the boundary between work area and family living space is blurred,and it is difficult to apply the standard of "three jobs" directly,and the burden of proof is not scientifically distributed.With regard to the employer’s right to instruct,there are few channels for remedy,the legal responsibility for abuse is unclear,and the rules on the burden of proof are not applicable.The telecommuting labor model is a product of the new era and has its own unique characteristics.By comparing the legal documents on telecommuting with those of overseas countries and taking into account the national conditions and practices,we can conclude that the main ways to improve the legal system of telecommuting workers in China are: First,to establish the standards of working hours applicable to telecommuting,including a clear definition of working hours for telecommuting and flexible determination of working hours.Second,to strengthen the protection of teleworkers’ privacy,including clarifying the rights and obligations of both sides of the labor relationship in teleworking,increasing the legal responsibility of employers for teleworkers’ privacy and strengthening the protection of personal data information of citizens by relevant departments.Third,improve the mechanism for identifying and remedying work-related injuries in teleworking,including further improving the provisions for identifying work-related injuries,including teleworkers in the work-related injury remedy system,and adopting the principle of reversing the burden of proof and adopting the principle of no-fault liability.Fourth,the legal regulation of the employer’s right to give instructions should be strengthened,including the use of big data technology to establish a sound labor union,clarify the legal responsibility of the employer’s abuse of the right to give instructions,and introduce the system of "constructive dismissal" into the labor law.At the same time,employers should actively build a multi-faceted and deep-rooted remote supervision system,and the government should establish a comprehensive relief mechanism to more comprehensively protect the rights and interests of telecommuting workers.