A Research On The Improvement Of The Labor Claims Protection System In Bankruptcy Proceedings

Labor claims,as one of the most crucial and unavoidable issues in Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the People’s Republic of China(hereafter “Enterprise Bankruptcy Law” or “EBL”),concerns not just rights and interests of laborers.Therefore,clarifying an accurate definition of labor claims and perfecting its protection system are helpful to guide judicial practice.As Enterprise Bankruptcy Law facing being amended,study on labor claims in the context of EBL is a must.In the past three years,bankruptcy cases have been increasingly accepted and heard.In judicial practice,it is difficult for the administrator to identify labor claims,resulting in a large number of litigation cases.For example,the number of disputes over confirmation of employee bankruptcy claims has been ascending year by year and hit all-time highs.Hence,it is extremely significant theoretically to prove the protection priority of labor claims,so are the perfection of protecting system and procedure provisions in EBL.There is no clear concept of "labor claims" in our country’s legislation,so we need to clarify its basic attributes and value basis of its priority by defining it.To this end,the author sorted out relevant concepts related to the protection system for labor claims in bankruptcy proceedings by studying academic monographs and other literature.In addition,this paper combines theory with practice,compares and analyzes the practical needs and theoretical considerations of the protection system for labor claims.The author illustrates it from three aspects: First,he analyzes the impact of market economy and COVID-19 epidemic on the actual needs of the research in China.Second,by paying attention to the development of labor claims protection outside China,relevant enlightenment is summarized,which also lays a foundation for the following questions.Finally,we return to the theory,considering the balance of rights theory in the era of Civil Code,paying attention to the realization of the legislative purpose of EBL itself,and clarifying the importance of good faith principle in the present.Then,the author starts from the analysis of a case selected as typical,using big data statistics,and puts forward the existing problems of labor claims protection in China.These include: first,the procedure of the confirmation of labor claims,including registration,labor arbitration and court jurisdiction.The second is the lack of reasonable restrictions on the priority of labor claims,including loose identification,wide range of compensation and the lack of restrictions on the period.Third,the labor union is not enough to supervise the bankruptcy procedure.Fourth,the risk sharing mechanism of solving labor disputes before bankruptcy cases is unbalanced.In order to solve the problems mentioned above and improve the protection system of labor claims,we need to establish a relatively perfect system.First of all,in terms of the confirmation procedure of labor claims,the author suggests that the right of laborers to actively declare their claims should be added.Labor arbitration and bankruptcy court jurisdiction cases should be clearly unified.Secondly,the priority content of labor claims should be reasonably limited.Subject recognition,scope of compensation and priority period should be strictly controlled.Thirdly,it is necessary to strengthen the supervision function of labor unions in the process of confirming labor claims and realize its effective supervision.Finally,the author proposes to improve the risk prevention mechanism before bankruptcy acceptance,and suggests that unpaid wage protection system implemented in developed areas currently be gradually absorbed as national legislation.In addition,from the perspective of judicial practice,the author proposes to explore a new commercial insurance mechanism,hoping to provide some inspiration for further improvement of China’s labor claims protection system.