And their case was nearing the end of the investigation—it was almost ready to be handed over for prosecutorial review and charges.
Once transferred, would that mean they are freed up, and if they are freed up, does that mean they can take on new cases? How great that would be.
"Labor intermediaries, and then the arbitration commission classified it as labor dispatch?" Old Lu couldn't help but speak out as he looked at the arbitration decision in his hand.
"Right, although they are named as labor intermediaries, what they do is essentially labor dispatch, which means, they earn money from both ends."
Sometimes intermediaries charge fees from both sides, and legally speaking, that's not really a major issue.
For instance, like the workers Lawyer Tang had seen before, some said they paid two hundred yuan just to apply through an intermediary.
"But even if it is classified as labor dispatch, isn't it just a problem of operating without regulation?" Old Lu grabbed the interview record and began reading while speaking.
Lawyer Tang naturally couldn't deal with Officer Lu the same way he would with the arbitration commission.
"Officer Lu, let's look at this first, my client Zhao Bin was clearly paid by the factory through the intermediary, but then the intermediary made up an excuse that my client hadn't done a good job, and as a result, the factory deducted his pay."
"There's no issue with that, right?"
Old Lu nodded and said, "No problem, the arbitration decision states it clearly: the factory has paid the full salary, but it was deducted by them."
"Good, now look at this, the owner of the intermediary stated in the arbitration decision that this is how they've always done business—there was no inducement on my part, he admitted it himself, right?"
Old Lu nodded again; there was no issue with that either.
"Now look at these pieces of evidence. When my client Zhao Bin first went to demand his wages, there were three other workers with him, all of whom had their wages deducted for the same reason."
"So based on the earlier evidence, is it not possible to infer that this money was also illegally withheld by the intermediary? What do you think?"
"Furthermore, according to evidence provided by the workers, three months ago, this intermediary supplied workers in three batches to another electronics factory, among which there were fifty workers in the second batch."
"Yet, just from the evidence I collected casually on my side, it is known that out of the fifty workers in the second batch, twenty-eight were deemed to have failed the assessment and had their wages deducted."
"The assessment of labor dispatch workers is done by the employing entity; so tell me, doesn't this, combined with the previous evidence, suggest that these people's situations were very similar to that of Zhao Bin?"
Old Lu fell into deep thought, naturally understanding more than the policemen below him.
The evidence and logic presented by Lawyer Tang formed a tight loop, even someone ignorant of the law could see that the intermediary must do this often.
You could argue that indeed one or two individuals really failed the assessment, but if it happens every time and the percentage of those deemed to have failed always exceeds eighty percent...
Then claiming failure is nothing but a sham.
Taking advantage of the moment, Lawyer Tang continued, "What they deduct from each worker is not much, but by using this method, they make it difficult for workers to assert their rights, as the cost of doing so will be higher than the money deducted."
"Now it appears that the wages withheld by this company every year are by no means a small amount. I've also asked around; of these workers, only three went to arbitration, went to court, and ultimately got their money."
"What do you think, isn't this a massive destruction to the labor market and the labor dispatch system?"
Old Lu continued to ponder, but his thoughts weren't solely on the legal issues.
Just looking at the law, indeed, this intermediary company has a significant problem.
It would be one thing if the intermediary simply did the work of a labor dispatch company, but to persistently withhold wages maliciously is a serious disruption to the labor market order.
It could lead to workers losing tremendous trust in the labor dispatch system...
Although to Lawyer Tang, it's not as if there was much trust to begin with, but it still constitutes market disorder.
If it was merely operating without a business license, directly undertaking labor dispatch tasks, then that wouldn't be considered a crime, but rather unregulated business, which falls under market supervision.
Criminal law has not become so severe that it reaches into every specific industry that doesn't require special regulation by the state.
However, if you use such methods to earn so much illegal income, you don't have to think about it; there's always a crime that fits under the many provided by criminal law.
If nothing else works, it's then stirring up trouble; you don't have to mention anything else, just ask if you took the workers' money or not.
Profit-making behavior is all covered under criminal law.
The policeman beside him had already stopped talking, wearing an unsurprised expression, as if he had long known it would be such a situation.
"So, Officer Lu, my recommendation is to file a case; the issue here is significant!"
At those words, Old Lu frowned and said, "The problem is indeed significant. It's not just in Dongfang City; just in our Guanning District, there are countless intermediaries..."
The two seemed to be talking about the same problem, but in reality, they were not.
Such a case, if investigated, would not just be about one intermediary. Since it's such easy money, could other intermediaries be doing the same thing? ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
And the key point is that these intermediary companies, unlike specialized labor dispatch companies which require various inspections, have a lot of nerve!
A few people start a company, or even a couple could run an intermediary firm and then earn large amounts of money.
Lawyer Tang remained silent; if a case was indeed not filed here, his first step would be to resolve the issue through administrative reconsideration and litigation.