What's wrong with this lawyer?!

Wang Qingqing soon felt a bit helpless, "Brother Tang, are you saying we still have to go back to Xiping City today?"

"Yes, our branch office is located in Xiping City, we definitely have to go back to initiate arbitration; otherwise, no one here will pay any attention to you," Old Tang said offhandedly.

"If you feel you can't handle it, then go back. Following me on a case means you need to have this resolve. Being a lawyer on a case isn't about comfort."

If Wang Qingqing felt that running back and forth like this was too exhausting or whatever, he would immediately call Old Wang. He indeed needed a beauty for eye-pleasure, but that didn't mean he needed a mere vase.

What he needed was a vase that could both please the eye and be put to use.

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingqing quickly said, "I'm fine, Brother Tang, I was just asking. I guarantee I won't ask again."

To be honest, she had only heard from others in the office before that Tang Fangjing was extremely dedicated when it came to handling cases. Discover stories at empire

Talk about a frequent flyer running all over the place, now she realized it was true; they hadn't even stayed long in Qinglv County before having to head back.

She had to quickly cancel the rooms they had originally booked, and then start booking rooms in Xiping City as well as buying tickets for the return trip.

By the time the two got back to Xiping City, it was already evening. After dinner and settling into their accommodation, Wang Qingqing found that things were completely different from what she had imagined. There was no time for anything else.

She was too busy; either working or traveling. Once arriving at the destination, the only thing she wanted was a proper rest, with no mood for anything else.

The next day, Old Tang got up early to pack his things and headed straight to the Anzhang District Labor Arbitration Committee with his briefcase in hand. He was actually very familiar with this place, as he had visited it when he was at odds with the Anzhang District Court.

In front of Wang Qingqing's bewildered gaze, Old Tang confidently walked in and handed over the application form at the counter.

Then, the staff member glanced at it and looked up, "Tang... Lawyer Tang?"

Old Tang nodded and said, "Yeah, it's me. We met last year, right? You guys didn't handle my arbitration submission then. You can do it this time, right?"

The staff member looked to the sky. What kind of arbitration did you submit last time? The Anzhang District Court ended up being the respondent. We are just a small arbitration committee here.

However, they still hurriedly looked at the application form in their hands. Thankfully, it wasn't the court and it wasn't the government.

But they felt the company name looked very familiar... wait a minute, isn't this the famous nationwide food delivery platform company?

"Lawyer Tang, are you representing a food delivery rider? Are you applying to establish a labor relationship with the platform company?" The staff member carefully confirmed several times before finally raising their head to ask.

Can't blame him. It's commonly recognized that there's no labor relationship between food delivery riders and the platform. Various judicial precedents have also proven this point.

Even the app that riders usually use spells it out very clearly in the agreement: by signing up, you have no labor or service relationship with the company whatsoever.

Yes, not even a service relationship!

So, what is your relationship with the company? It's a partnership. If you don't believe it, you can download a related app and register as a rider to see for yourself; it definitely includes this clause.

Of course, we all know that these types of contracts are standard terms and might not be valid.

But if you really go through litigation, and you encounter some rather difficult judges, it will just add to the trouble.

You'll first need to establish the invalidity of the standard terms before you can discuss anything else, which invisibly increases your litigation costs.

So it's no wonder the staff member didn't understand. A lawyer like Tang Fangjing should be aware of this, yet he still came to arbitrate. What was he aiming for?

Old Tang, on his part, showed no hesitation as he said, "I am here to apply to establish a labor relationship, for appropriate reasons. Please review it on your end."

Of course, there were reasons. According to the "Notification on Determining Labor Relationships and Related Matters," there are three criteria to establish a factual labor relationship.

The first is that both parties meet the subject qualifications, which must be legally recognized employing units and workers.

The food delivery platform company is a qualified employing unit, and Li Fugui is a regular worker.

The second, the labor rules and systems legally established by the employing unit apply to the workers, who are subject to the labor management of the employing unit and engaged in remunerated labor arranged by the employing unit.

In layman's terms, it means the employing unit has control over the workers. Does the food delivery platform have control over its workers? Of course, it does. How? Through algorithms!

To those who don't understand, an algorithm is just an algorithm; how could it possibly manage riders?

But if you don't understand the algorithms, you've surely heard of big data. Every order taken and delivered by the riders is regulated by the system backend based on big data.

Thus, scholars have specifically published research papers stating that riders are essentially slaves to big data.

This was also the result of an attempt by a friend of Old Tang's in his past life; the food delivery platform did have management over the riders, just not in the traditional way, but rather through systems, big data algorithms, and other new means.

Specifying a time limit for delivery and fining for late delivery – you can't say that's not management, right?

It's just that similar cases in the past were lost because labor departments and courts considered this level of management to be "weak management." With the advent of new business models, it was even less likely to be recognized.

But now, as a reason to file a case, this justification was certainly no problem.

The third condition is that the labor provided by the worker is part of the employing unit's business operations.