NetEase Technology News In the early morning of March 24, Zhu Hong, co-founder and vice president of Douguo Food, posted a message in his circle of friends to explain in detail his "resignation". In Zhu Hong's circle of friends, it can be found that since March 19, 2016, the contents of his circle of friends are mostly "lawyer", "resignation", "labor law" and other related words.
Zhu Hong, vice president of Douguo Food, was responsible for market operations in the IT system integration and traditional education and training industries before 2005. In 2005, he entered the Internet from traditional industries. Because of her unwavering passion for food, she finally decided to give up her stable and worry-free job and income to become a partner of Douguo Food and start her own business. She said, "Only by choosing your own interests to start a business can you maintain your endless passion."
The following is the original content of Zhu Hong’s circle of friends:
The weekend started because the content in my circle of friends caused trouble to everyone. Many friends sent me private messages to express concern and ask me what happened. Yes, some things did happen that I am embarrassed to talk about. Based on my principles of dealing with things, I am not willing to let the "family scandal" spread.
People here who know me well have witnessed my night flights home every time, running offline activities all over the country on weekends all year round, and the scene where I fell into a waist-deep ice hole in the middle of the night when setting up the site for the Douguo Annual Food Festival in the late winter of the year before last. During the process of starting a business, I had a heart attack caused by excessive fatigue and had to undergo surgery for lumbar disc herniation… I have invested too much effort and emotion into this company.
It is precisely because of this that I have been resisting the pressure from my family and did not consider pregnancy. I always wanted to wait until Douguo was on the right track. This delayed until I was 38 years old and became a high-risk mother. But I never expected that as an elderly mother, I would be hit hard.
At the end of last year, due to some differences in business and management concepts with the founder (CEO), the board of directors also agreed to draft a priority withdrawal agreement for me, allowing me to give priority to the transfer of shares within the next year and a half. However, this agreement was not signed before the Spring Festival. I was more than a month pregnant at the time and was experiencing severe morning sickness when I suddenly received a request from the CEO to let me leave on the grounds that the agreement had been completed. To be honest, I was in shock while I was in bed recuperating. Because I never thought that such a workplace experience would happen to me, and it was during my pregnancy.
After I pointed out that pregnant women are protected by labor laws during pregnancy and lactation, and cannot unilaterally terminate the labor contract, the CEO only proposed to terminate the labor relationship at a one-time salary of 4 months, saying that this was already based on our cooperation for many years… He warned me that if I continued to stay, my salary would be reduced to a very low level, and the company would win the labor court case.
As a co-founder, I really didn’t want to cause such a big fuss, and I didn’t want to damage the company’s reputation. However, after that, I tried to communicate with the CEO many times, but all I got was evasion and avoidance. On March 10, the company stopped paying my salary for February, and I did not receive any form of notification or confirmation. It is said that the CEO only verbally informed HR to implement it. I asked the CEO about it on March 10, but he didn't respond. After that, the company's HR set up a WeChat group and gave me the contact information of the company's attorney.
Last Friday, my lawyer and I met with Lawyer Wang, who was entrusted by the company. Lawyer Wang said that he was only entrusted to meet with me, and he was not authorized and could only be responsible for passing on messages. I made it clear at the time: Douguo is like the child I have raised with all my heart, and I hope everything goes well for the company. If for the long-term interests of the company, everyone sits down and is willing to reconcile, I will accept it, but the premise is that the company must first stop the illegal behavior of suspending salary during pregnancy, and then everything can be discussed.
However, things changed drastically after that.
On the day after the meeting, the company sent a group email overnight to introduce new attendance rules, requiring "all employees, including deputy directors and above, to punch in with their fingerprints." The previous attendance system implemented by the company stipulated that "7. The following employees do not need to clock in and clock in: company director level and above (unregular working hours, no overtime pay)."
So after work on Monday, I asked HR to take my fingerprints, but was refused because the CEO did not authorize her to take my fingerprints.
It was clear that the CEO was trying to use absenteeism to get evidence in arbitration.
According to the lawyer's advice, when the company clearly intended to create evidence of my absence from work, I had to take photos and videos to retain evidence of my attendance. I also needed to locate my location, so I had to check in on Moments as a last resort.
This is a complete farce. As a senior executive, I even feel very embarrassed. I don’t know what all these forced rights protection actions will bring. The worst result is just as my friend kindly “reminded” me, which will affect my image in this circle in the future. Indeed, it is difficult for me to tell the whole truth. After all, I am still worried about Douguo's future and cannot tell more truth.
Wang Yuxiang, until now I hope to communicate directly with you. If there are problems, I can solve them. I can even give in to the relationship of many years of cooperation. Please show the attitude and problem-solving methods that a founder should have.
