According to the law, economic compensation for resignation is a negotiable right. If an employee resigns due to personal reasons, the employer is not required to pay economic compensation. However, in practice, both parties in the labor relationship often hold different opinions on whether the reason for the employee's resignation is "personal reasons" and whether the unit should pay economic compensation. How should workers prove the reasonableness of their claims when such labor disputes occur? According to the provisions of the Labor Contract Law, the employer and the employee may terminate the labor contract by mutual agreement. If an employee resigns due to personal reasons, the employer is not required to pay them economic compensation. However, in judicial practice, both parties to the labor relationship often hold different opinions on whether the reason for the employee's resignation is "personal reasons" and whether the employer should pay economic compensation. Some employers require employees to sign fallback clauses such as "no dispute" when they resign. If an employee states in their resignation application that they have resigned due to personal reasons, can they still request economic compensation? Can an employee retract their resignation agreement after signing the 'no dispute' clause? Recently, the Beijing Third Intermediate People's Court tried a case in accordance with the law. In this case, the employee provided strong evidence to prove that their resignation due to "personal reasons" on the "Resignation Application Form" was forced, and the court ultimately ruled in accordance with the law to support the employee's claim. There are different opinions on the reasons for resignation. As a designer of a certain home decoration company, there is a dispute with the company over issues such as salary difference, commission, and economic compensation for termination of labor relationship. The case has been brought to court. The home decoration company submitted a "Resignation Application Form" signed by Mr. Yu. The application form shows that Yu resigned on September 1, 2022 due to personal reasons. Therefore, the company believes that there is no need to pay any economic compensation. However, Yu claimed that the reason for resignation stated in the "Resignation Application Form" was not his true intention, and submitted audio evidence to refute it. The recorded evidence shows that Yu had communicated multiple times with the human resources manager of a home decoration company before leaving, stating that he was forced to resign due to the company's arrears of wages and commissions, and requested that the aforementioned reasons be stated in the resignation application, all of which were rejected by relevant personnel of the company. In order to complete the resignation procedures as soon as possible, Yu reluctantly filled in the "Resignation Application Form" to resign due to "personal reasons". During the trial, Yu believed that he met the requirements of Article 38 (2) of the Labor Contract Law of China, and therefore requested a certain home decoration company to pay economic compensation for terminating the labor relationship. According to the relevant provisions of the Labor Contract Law, if the employer fails to timely and fully pay the labor remuneration, the employee may terminate the labor contract, and the employer shall pay economic compensation to the employee. When the worker presented key rebuttal evidence in the trial of the case, the court found that a certain home decoration company did indeed owe a large amount of wages and commissions to a certain company. According to the key evidence provided by Yu - the recording, it is sufficient to refute the reason for resignation stated in the "Resignation Application Form", proving that Yu's true reason for resignation was due to the home decoration company's arrears of wages and commissions, as well as the fact that Yu had requested to state the aforementioned reasons in the resignation application but was refused. After trial, the court held that the employer should pay the labor remuneration to the employee on time and in full. If the employer fails to pay the labor remuneration in a timely and full manner, and the employee resigns on this grounds, the employer should pay economic compensation for the termination of the labor relationship in accordance with the law. According to Article 44 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (I), the employer shall bear the burden of proof for labor disputes arising from decisions made by the employer, such as dismissal, expulsion, termination of labor contract, reduction of labor remuneration, and calculation of the length of service of the employee. Judge Gong Yongchao of Beijing Third Intermediate People's Court analyzed the case and said, "In the process of hearing such cases, the employer should first provide evidence of the reason for the employee's resignation. If the employee does not agree with the employer's proof of the reason for resignation, they should submit counter evidence to prove their actual reason for resignation. Otherwise, they should bear the adverse consequences of not being able to provide evidence." In this case, based on the facts found, the court accepted Yu's claim about the reason for resignation and ultimately ordered a home decoration company to make up for the wage difference and commission owed to him, and to pay economic compensation for the termination of the labor relationship to him in accordance with the law. How to sign a resignation agreement? According to Article 36 of China's Labor Contract Law, the employer and the employee may terminate the labor contract by mutual agreement. In practice, when an employee resigns, some employers sign agreements with the employee to provide a fallback clause such as "no dispute", with the intention of resolving the resignation issue as a whole and reducing the risk of litigation. Is this resignation agreement really valid? Economic compensation for resignation is a negotiable right, and the law respects the autonomy of the parties involved. In general, the resignation agreement signed between the employer and the employee, such as' no labor dispute ', has legal effect. If the employee reneges on the agreement after signing it, the court will not support it. ”Lawyer Shi Xiaofeng, Director of the Labor and Personnel Special Committee of Beijing Xinnuo Law Firm, told reporters that if the worker provides evidence to prove that the other party had a situation of fraud, coercion, or taking advantage of others when signing the agreement; Or the employer has made a statement of intention that contradicts the resignation agreement; If the employer clearly states that there is a situation of unpaid wages to the employee, they may request revocation in accordance with the law. In judicial practice, workers often defend themselves against fraud, coercion, and other situations, but due to their lack of awareness of evidence retention and strict court review standards, it is difficult for workers to provide strong evidence for this, "said Shi Xiaofeng. It should be noted that the reasons for the unilateral termination of the labor contract by the employee should be clear and specific, and the judgment of whether the employer should pay economic compensation to the employee should be based on the reasons raised by the employee at the time of termination of the labor contract, and should not be judged based on the reasons supplemented or changed by the employee afterwards. ”Gong Yongchao believes that in the long run, only by establishing the principle of "dual protection" of the rights and interests of workers and employers can we ensure the harmonious and healthy development of labor relations and the social economy. Shi Xiaofeng reminds that when signing a resignation agreement, one should carefully read the terms of the agreement and sign it with caution, especially paying attention to fallback clauses such as "no dispute", "all payments", "waiver of certain rights", etc., to ensure that the resignation agreement is a true expression of one's intention. If there is coercion or other situations, attention should be paid to retaining relevant evidence or refusing to sign. At the same time, efforts should be made to ensure that there are no other unpaid labor remuneration beyond the severance compensation amount, in order to avoid unnecessary disputes. If there are indeed other unpaid items that cannot be included, they should be fixed in writing in a timely manner. Workers should have an awareness of evidence retention. If the employee can prove that at the time of resignation, the personnel responsible for salary accounting, management personnel, etc. of the unit confirmed or promised to delay the payment of labor remuneration to the employee, or indicated that the resignation agreement did not include a certain labor remuneration, it can be considered that the employer has made a change in its expression of intention that is beneficial to the employee. ”Shi Xiaofeng said. (New Society)