Law

Recognizing the harm of 'fake outsourcing' and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of workers

2025-11-27   

Fake outsourcing "deprives workers of the same rights and benefits while undertaking the same work, objectively reducing their legitimate rights and interests, resulting in unreasonable classification of workers in the same employer into different levels, which violates the provisions of labor laws. Under the cover of "fake outsourcing", some units excessively emphasize price priority when choosing outsourcing suppliers, leading to the phenomenon of "bad money driving out good money" in some local human resources service markets, disrupting the normal order of labor employment. Recently, there have been continuous reports on the issue of "unequal pay for equal work" among outsourced employees, revealing that some employers' outsourced employees often undertake the same work as regular employees, but have significant differences in authority, benefits, and other aspects. Some employers, in pursuit of organizational flexibility and cost control, label some employees as "outsourced" but assign them to "dispatched" work, which harms the rights and interests of workers. Labor outsourcing and labor dispatch are employment models that have gradually become popular in some industries and enterprises in recent years. They have certain value in optimizing labor costs and improving operational efficiency. Labor outsourcing refers to the contractor's own organization and management of employees to complete the work agreed upon by the employer. If the employer does not manage the employees, labor outsourcing is subject to the adjustment of the Civil Code. Labor dispatch refers to the dispatch of employees by the labor dispatching party to the actual employing unit for work, and the employing unit exercises management rights over the dispatched employees. Labor dispatch is subject to labor laws. Two forms of employment have encountered some problems in practical application, including the phenomenon of "false outsourcing". According to relevant research, labor outsourcing is widely used in some industries and enterprises, and many overseas project-based employment adopts this form. In some parts of China, some employers also try to use labor outsourcing as much as possible. Even a few enterprises adopt labor contract system for repetitive physical labor positions and seasonal employment positions such as catering logistics, security and cleaning, warehousing and logistics, except for management positions and core business positions. For the main business positions that cannot adopt labor dispatch according to legal regulations, some employers also use the form of "labor outsourcing" to form the phenomenon of "fake outsourcing and real dispatch". In reality, the phenomenon of "fake outsourcing" exists in different forms. For example, some companies outsource their employees to labor dispatch agencies in the form of "outsourcing", and then the labor dispatch agencies dispatch them back to the company. Although the employees do the same work as before outsourcing, their identity and welfare benefits have undergone significant changes. Some companies entrust their business to outsourcing agencies, who dispatch employees to work on site for the company, agreeing that the outsourced employees are under the management and supervision of the company. The boundary between labor outsourcing and labor dispatch is intentionally blurred, and so on. The existence of "fake outsourcing" is the practice of some employers using the name of "business outsourcing" to avoid legal responsibilities, reduce labor costs, and "optimize management" in labor and employment management. Essentially, it is a behavior of exploiting legal loopholes. Fake outsourcing "deprives workers of the same rights and benefits while undertaking the same work, objectively reducing their legitimate rights and interests, resulting in unreasonable classification of workers in the same employer into different levels, which violates the provisions of labor laws. Under the cover of "fake outsourcing", some units excessively emphasize price priority when choosing outsourcing suppliers, leading to the phenomenon of "bad money driving out good money" in some local human resources service markets, disrupting the normal order of labor employment, and even affecting the construction of harmonious labor relations. The phenomenon of 'fake outsourcing' has complex causes. For example, some employers lack a strong sense of social responsibility and maliciously play the trick of "hanging sheep's heads and selling dog meat" in order to control labor costs and increase profit margins; The Labor Contract Law, Interim Provisions on Labor Dispatch, and other laws and regulations have not provided detailed provisions for labor outsourcing, giving some employers the opportunity to exploit legal loopholes; Some workers whose rights have been damaged are either trying to keep their jobs or unable to understand the difference between labor outsourcing and labor dispatch. Although they have objections to the "three six nine class" management style of the employing unit, they dare not say "no". 'Fake outsourcing' is an abuse of outsourcing labor behavior and should be given sufficient attention. For normal labor outsourcing, relevant enterprises should establish the awareness of "business outsourcing, labor rights cannot be outsourced", and avoid affecting the legitimate interests of outsourced employees due to price wars; For the behavior of "false outsourcing", relevant departments should strengthen employment supervision, severely punish illegal activities, and urge employers to comply with employment regulations; For the behavior of "fake outsourcing and real dispatch", relevant departments should work together through labor supervision and human resources market supervision to rectify the illegal behavior of relevant employers who violate and abuse labor dispatch regulations. We cannot let 'fake outsourcing' become a new 'vest' that harms the rights and interests of workers. Clear legal provisions are the foundation, effective law enforcement is the key, and it is also important for workers to bravely say 'no' - we look forward to the joint efforts of all sectors of society to promote the implementation of social responsibility by enterprises, legal and compliant employment, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers. (New Society)

Edit:Wang Shu Ying Responsible editor:Li Jie

Source:Workers' Daily

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