Several Issues related to High-temperature Allowance

Lee had resigned from the Shanghai Branch of a Zhejiang company. While calculating the amount of high-temperature allowance, Lee required the company to pay the high-temperature allowance according to the standard of Shanghai (which is higher than the standard of Zhejiang) where he had worked for years. However, the company insisted that it had paid the high-temperature allowance according to the company’s rules and regulations, in which it had prescribed that the high-temperature allowance should be paid according to the standard of Zhejiang. Then Lee brought the dispute to the labor arbitration committee. Finally, the labor arbitration committee made the order and required the company to pay the high-temperature allowance according to the standard of Shanghai where Lee had worked for years.

In practice, there are lots of disputes related to the high-temperature allowance, and the standard of the high-temperature allowance for off-site work is one of the disputes. The fundamental reason is that “Administrative Provisions for Summer Cooling Measures” has not stipulated the standard of the high-temperature allowance, instead, it has authorized the provincial human resources and social security administrative departments to decide the local standard based on the local economic development, so different provinces may have different standard of the high-temperature allowance (including the period of payment, amount and calculation method). For example, the period of payment is June to August in Beijing; June to September in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. The amount is RMB 200Yuan/Month in Shanghai, but RMB 150Yuan/Month in Guangdong. The high-temperature allowance would be calculated in days in Hubei, and An’hui; but in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, it would be calculated in months. While the parent company and branch are located in different cities, the standard of the high-temperature allowance becomes a problem.
In the above case, the Zhejiang Company insists to pay the high-temperature allowance by following the same standard, while the employee is working off-site, such dispute would not be rare. Regard of this, we have 2 tips for the companies: (1) in the company’s rules and regulations, the company could prescribe that the high-temperature allowance should be paid in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations; or (2) to confirm the practical requirements of the relevant human resource and social security administrative department in written, prior to prescribe the unified standard of the high-temperature allowance in the company’s rules and regulations.

Another common issue is whether the high-temperature allowance shall be paid to those employees working in the office with air-conditioner. Many employees deem that once the temperature is higher than 35℃(includes 35℃), the employer shall pay the high-temperature allowance. In fact, according to Article 2 of “Administrative Provisions for Summer Cooling Measures”, the high-temperature allowance shall be paid to those employees who are conducting high-temperature tasks or working under high-temperature weather. In addition, Article 3 has furtherly explained that “High-temperature Tasks” refers to “the employee is working under the nature high-temperature weather”. In view of these, the high-temperature allowance shall not be paid to the employee who is working in the office with air-conditioner.

Moreover, many companies are confused by whether they could pay the high-temperature allowance by providing material objects. According to “Administrative Provisions for Summer Cooling Measures”, it is the employer’s responsibility to provide summer cooling beverage and medicine, the summer cooling beverage and the high-temperature allowance shall be provided and paid both. And the high-temperature allowance shall be calculated into the total wages, but shall not be calculated into the minimum wage range.