On the afternoon of September 5, 2021, Peking University Social Law Frontier Forum second phase "Protection of Workers' Rights and Interests under New Employment Forms: Policies and Laws" was successfully held at Conference Room 303, Kaiyuan Building, Peking University. The Forum is co-sponsored by the Institute of Labor and Social Security Law, Peking University School of Law and the Nonprofit Organization Law Research Center of Peking University School of Law. Nie Shengkui, Director of the Labor Relations Division of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, is hereby invited as the guest speaker for the Forum. Professor Lai Kin Fei of Renmin University of China Law School, Professor Chang Kai of Labor and Personnel College, Renmin University of China, Professor Jung Sang-won of Tsinghua University School of Law, Institute of Labor and Social Security Law, Professor Ye Jingyi, Director of Peking University, Professor Jiang Ying, Standing Committee and Director of Academic Affairs of the Party Committee of China Institute of Labor Relations, Institute of Law of Law, Deputy Director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Professor Xie Zengyi, Professor Shen Jianfeng, Dean of the Law School of China Institute of Labor Relations, School of Civil and Economic Law, China University of Political Science and Law, Professor Zhao Hongmei, Director of the Research Center of Nonprofit Organization Law of Peking University, Associate Professor Kim Chin-ping, Vice Dean of the Law School of Beijing Foreign Studies University, Associate Professor Chen Yifeng of PKU School of Law, Assistant Professor Yan Tian of PKU Law School, Institute of Journalism and Communication, Assistant Researcher Sun Ping of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Lecturer of the Law School of China Institute of Labor Relations, Dr. Li Jing, Lecturer of the Law School of China Institute of Labor Relations, and Dr. Chen Long of the Peking University Department of Sociology attended the Forum.

The first session of the conference was chaired by Professor Ye Jingyi. On behalf of the Institute of Labor and Social Security Law and Peking University School of Law, Professor Ye Jingyi thanked Director General Nie Shengkui and all the experts for coming. She pointed out that with the development and changes of the economy and society, social law has a broader vision, more and more problems of concern and greater challenges. Under this background, it is particularly necessary to strengthen the exchange between theory and practice, and between various disciplines. Recently, eight ministries including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Safeguarding the Labor Security Rights and Interests of Workers in the New Form of Employment (hereinafter referred to as the Guiding Opinions). How to deal with the interaction between policy and law in the protection of labor rights and interests in the new form of employment has become a new topic to be solved in the field of social law. This conference will provide a platform for experts and scholars to discuss and exchange with each other.

Subsequently, Director General Nie Shengkui delivered a speech on the theme of "Standardizing Enterprise Employment and Safeguarding the Labor Security Rights and Interests of Workers in the New Form of Employment". He pointed out that at present, the number of workers in the new form of employment is large, and most of them are young and middle-aged migrant workers. The trend of these workers is obvious to be full-time workers, and their income is OK but declining. Protecting the rights and interests of workers in the new form of employment is of great significance to both implement the requirements of the central government and respond to social concerns. With the maturing of the Internet industry, the platform employment model has gradually become clear, the regulatory authorities have gradually deepened their understanding of the issues, and the theory and practice circles have also reached a consensus on innovating the labor security system. On this basis, the Guiding Opinions adjust the social security rights and interests of workers in the new form of employment and the employment responsibilities of enterprises, clarify the social security responsibilities of workers, make up for the weakness of the system, optimize services and coordinate governance, which is conducive to promoting enterprises to actively fulfill their social responsibilities and protecting the basic rights and interests of workers in the new form of employment.

After the keynote speech, the experts present discussed the relevant topics. According to Professor Li Jianfei, no matter how the economy and society develop, the purpose of protecting the rights and interests of employees should not be changed. We should always adhere to the four bottom lines of working hours, labor remuneration, labor protection and social security: control the total number of working hours, pay attention to the pricing mechanism for labor remuneration, explore new labor protection standards and ensure that all employees who should be covered by labor security are covered as well. Professor Chang Kai points out that in the process of formulating policies and systems in the relevant fields, attention should be paid to the basic issues of labor relations, and the determination and classification of "subordination" should be solved at the theoretical level. The definition of the third category of workers should expand labor protection rather than exclude it. Professor Jung Sang-won believes that there is still controversy on the standard of "labor relations" in the academic circle, and we should gradually form the standard, and promote the labor and social security for workers in the new form of employment. Professor Jiang Ying points out that trade unions have great room to play in the future employee security for the new form of business, and there are both challenges and opportunities. We should strengthen the connection with local trade unions and industrial trade unions, and effectively play the role of trade unions. Researcher Xie Zengyi believes that in terms of the protection of rights and interests of workers in the new form of business, all countries are still at the exploring stage, and we should strengthen the construction of legislation, timely transform good policies into laws, and achieve the unification of the judicial level; at the same time, we should take into account various factors to determine the scope of rights of platform workers.

The second stage of the conference was presided over by Associate Professor Chen Yifeng, and experts present held a special discussion on issues relating to the protection of rights and interests of workers in the new form of business. Professor Zhao Hongmei said that there are currently no generally applicable rules for the protection of rights and interests of workers in the new form of business. In the future, in the process of formulation, we should start from the perspectives of basic concepts, labor and wage standards, establish and improve a mechanism to protect the income payment of workers in the new form of business, and take into account the actual working status of workers in the process of order receiving and delivery. Professor Shen Jianfeng points out that the governance platform can further play the role of civil law in the employment process, and achieve a balance between enterprises' autonomy in management and the protection of workers through regulation of the algorithm. Based on his own investigation results, Assistant Researcher Sun Ping analyzes in detail the basic labor situation of takeout riders, and believes that flexible mechanisms can be used to improve riders' skills and quality, and vocational training can be strengthened to help riders achieve skill improvement. Professor Yan Dong introduces the concepts and development of "employee" and "worker" in UK labor law, and shares his thoughts on the classification of labor relations in light of the development of the Uber case. Assistant Professor Yan Tian, from a practical point of view, believes that we need to pay attention to the implementation effect after the establishment of the relevant system. From the perspective of sociological fieldwork, Dr. Chen Long proposes that attention should be paid to the skilling of workers and the provision of old-age pensions. Dr. Li Jing believes that, under the current circumstances, working time control and algorithm regulation should pay more attention to balancing the wishes of workers and the protection of labor law, and providing effective channels for workers to express their demands.

Finally, Associate Professor Kim Chin-ping summarized the meeting. She pointed out that, with the development of practice, the existing framework and norms of labor law can not fully play its role, and it is necessary to return to the basic theory and restudy the basic concepts such as the basic legal relationship of labor. At the same time, the interdisciplinary research method can greatly break through the limitations of legal research, bring about new collisions, and make the final research results to a higher level. Finally, Associate Professor Kim Chin-ping once again thanked Director Nie Sheng and all the experts and scholars present at the meeting. The meeting came to a successful end.