Huawei employee’s ‘fighter’s pledge’ legally binding, China court rules

Product manager Zeng Meng thought the declaration ‘no big deal’ but it cost his claim to benefits from telecoms giant

Pledge is commonly used by Chinese technology companies to boost morale and encourage team building

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Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, southern China. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:45pm, 27 Oct 2020Updated: 3:45pm, 27 Oct 2020

A court in southern China has ruled in favour of the Shenzhen-based telecommunications giant Huawei in a dispute with a former employee over unpaid overtime and leave compensation.

The ruling, issued by the Guangdong Higher People’s Court last week, was based in part on a signed declaration by the employee that he would become a “fighter” for the company and was willing to surrender his claims to some benefits.

The declaration, called the “fighter’s pledge”, is commonly used by technology companies in China as a morale booster and for team building for local employees. Foreign staff are not expected to make the pledge.

Zeng Meng, 40, signed the declaration, in addition to his employment contract, after joining Huawei in 2012 as a product manager. He took Huawei to court last year seeking more than 400,000 yuan (US$59,700) in overtime pay and unclaimed leave.

As part of its defence, the company argued Zeng had voluntarily given up his claim to some benefits when he signed the pledge. The court ruled that, according to Huawei’s work guidelines, overtime work required supervisors’ approval and Zeng had failed to show that he had such approval and that the overtime work happened as claimed.

The court also ruled there was no evidence that Zeng signed the pledge under duress or against his will. “There was no sign that the agreement was signed under trickery or coercion, therefore it should be seen as Zeng’s true intent,” the verdict said.