Chinanews.com, Beijing, November 11 (Zhang Yuhui) Recently, the dismissal of all employees of Hunan Yiyang Kangya Hospital has aroused public opinion. On the evening of the 4st, Kangya Hospital issued a notice saying that the central hospital intends to formally take over Kangya Hospital in the near future, and will formally terminate the labor contract or employment agreement with all employees on the 1th, and will actively cooperate with the central hospital to do a good job in targeted recruitment under the guidance of the Municipal Health Commission, and strive for hospital employees to stay.

What are the demands of the staff of Kangya Hospital? Is the hospital's actions legal?

A hospital in Hunan dismissed all employees

Staff: No prior notice

Regarding the dismissal of all employees of Kangya Hospital, Chinanews contacted Kangya Hospital, and the staff who answered the call mentioned that the hospital is currently holding a meeting to discuss the follow-up treatment of the dismissal of employees, and there is no news on how to arrange employee reemployment and specific compensation plans, only that "before the notice of dismissal of employees, no employees were notified in advance".

A staff member of the office of Yiyang Central Hospital told Chinanews that the competent authority for all the work of resource integration of Kangya Hospital is the Municipal Health Commission, and the Municipal Health Commission will carry out the asset merger and employee transfer related matters.

Chinanews also contacted the Yiyang Municipal Health Commission, and a staff member mentioned that the follow-up treatment methods and solutions are currently being discussed, and it is necessary to wait for the official notice.

What are the demands of hospital staff?

Employee: Refuse labor dispatch

Chinanews contacted an in-service employee of Kangya Hospital, who told Chinanews that after consultation between Kangya Hospital and the central hospital, a staff meeting was held yesterday (2nd), announcing that if the employees who originally signed labor contracts with Kangya Hospital participated in the recruitment examination of the central hospital, they would sign labor dispatch contracts on the basis of merit and equal pay for equal work with the labor dispatch employees of the central hospital.

"More than 700 of our employees are labor contracts, the contract has not expired, and now the hospital has unilaterally and directly dismissed them, one did not come up with compensation, two did not say the personnel diversion plan, and three did not repay our wages and performance arrears, and it is really difficult for our medical staff." The employee said.

In response to online public opinion, the employee said that the employees of Kangya Hospital did not want the establishment of a public hospital, but only refused to sign a labor dispatch contract. "The merger is a good thing, it can better contribute to the people of Yiyang in the medical industry, but now we contract workers are required to take the recruitment examination of the central hospital and enter the labor dispatch on the basis of merit, and the previous years of service have also been zeroed, which is equivalent to starting over like medical students who have just graduated, which makes many employees unguarded."

Letter of Appeal from the staff of Kangya Hospital. Photo courtesy of the interviewee

Is it legal to dismiss all employees?

Lawyer: The subject of the labor contract remains unchanged and must comply with relevant laws

According to the official website, Kangya Hospital is a large-scale tertiary general hospital approved by the Hunan Provincial Health Commission, integrating medical treatment, prevention, rehabilitation, elderly care, scientific research and teaching, officially opened on June 2016, 6, and was acquired by Yiyang Gao Guotou in January 12, and officially transformed into a state-owned hospital in Yiyang High-tech Zone, with 2022,1 beds, which is an important part of the health system of Yiyang City.

Shareholding structure of Kangya Hospital. Source: Tianyan Check

On October 10, the Yiyang Municipal Health Commission issued an announcement to solicit opinions from the public on the "Resource Integration Plan of Yiyang Central Hospital and Hunan Kangya Hospital". It is mentioned that through free transfer, the assets of Kangya Hospital will be transferred to the central hospital, and the "high-tech campus of Yiyang Central Hospital" will be set up, and the brand of "Hunan Kangya Hospital" will be retained, and the party committee of the central hospital will be unified to build a development model of "one hospital and two districts", and implement integrated operation and homogeneous management. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Labor Contract Law, the legitimate rights and interests of the employees of Kangya Hospital are protected, and the employees of Kangya Hospital are recruited, hired and diverted in accordance with the employment standards of the central hospital and in accordance with the law, regulations and procedures.

On October 10, Yiyang City held the 13th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee in 2023, at which the meeting deliberated and approved in principle the plan for the integration of Hunan Kangya Hospital by the central hospital, and transferred the assets of Hunan Kangya Hospital to the central hospital by way of free transfer, and established the high-tech campus of Yiyang Central Hospital. The meeting emphasized that it is necessary to follow laws and regulations, attach great importance to the work of asset clearance and capital verification, personnel diversion, and disposal of residual problems in the integration process, so as to achieve precision and precision, complete procedures, and procedural compliance.

Regarding the dismissal of all employees at Kangya Hospital, Ding Jinkun, a lawyer at Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, told Chinanews that Article 41 of the "Labor Contract Law" stipulates that "if it is necessary to lay off more than 20 employees or less than 20 but accounting for more than 10% of the total number of employees of the enterprise, the employer shall explain the situation to the trade union or all employees 30 days in advance, and after listening to the opinions of the trade union or employees, the personnel reduction plan may be laid off after reporting to the labor administrative department". Employees cannot be laid off, otherwise the labor contract will be terminated illegally, compensation must be paid, and the employee can also request the resumption of labor relations. Ding Jinkun said that Kangya Hospital's move has no legal basis.

For the transfer of assets of Kangya Hospital to the central hospital, Ding Jinkun pointed out that assets generally refer to fixed assets, current assets and other materials and equipment, excluding personnel, and personnel arrangement is an independent project, however, "the takeover of Yiyang Central Hospital refers to the change of management personnel, but Kangya Hospital, as the main body of the labor contract for medical staff, remains unchanged and must comply with the "Labor Law" and "Labor Contract Law".

Ding Jinkun believes that labor dispatch is generally a temporary and auxiliary position, which is not good for employees in this case, and it is best to sign a new labor contract, inherit the treatment and length of service of the original contract, and transfer it in an orderly manner. (ENDS)