A must-read for graduates entering the job market—don’t miss out on any of your rights

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The five social insurances and one housing fund, as well as related matters such as penalty fees for leaving a job: the five social insurances include pension insurance, medical insurance, unemployment insurance (paid jointly by the employer and the employee), work-related injury insurance, and maternity insurance; the one housing fund refers to the housing provident fund. Regarding social insurance: What are the “five insurances and one fund”? No matter what organization you work for, it should open a special account specifically for you, and contribute to social insurance, which is what we commonly refer to as the \"five insurances and one fund\". This special account functions as another form of identification for you. “The “five social insurances” include pension, medical, unemployment, work-related injury, and maternity insurance; contributions are made to the Social Security Bureau. For pension, medical, and unemployment insurance, contributions are shared by both enterprises and individuals ； Workers’ compensation and maternity insurance are entirely covered by the employer. “\"One gold\" refers to the housing provident fund, which is deposited with the housing provident fund management center. If employees do not receive the ‘five social insurances and one housing fund’, is it illegal for the employer? “The \"five social insurances and one housing fund\" requirement carries a certain degree of legislative mandatory nature; if you are not entitled to these benefits, it means the employer is in violation of the law. Social insurance is a social security system established by legislation, funded jointly by individuals, employers, and **the government; it serves to meet an individual’s basic living needs when they face risks such as old age, illness, work-related injuries, childbirth, or unemployment. Therefore, if you find that the employer fails to do w, you can definitely file a complaint with the labor arbitration authority. Under normal circumstances, it will be resolved unconditionally. Is insurance also available during the period? Many people work on a trial period as if they’re working for free, receiving only a small salary during that time; what about insurance? After calling the consultation hotline 12333 of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Labor and Social Security, the reporter received a positive response: the probation period is an integral part of the contract period; it is not separate from it, so insurance should also be provided during the probation period. It is not acceptable even if an individual states that they do not need insurance, because as mentioned earlier, it is a legal obligation for employers to provide insurance for their employees, independent of the individuals’ own wishes. Regarding personnel files, perhaps out of ignorance, perhaps unnecessarily, or perhaps out of helplessness, many people discard their personnel files after graduation and stop paying attention to them. In fact, in China, the second half of your life is closely related to this kraft paper bag. You should know that many of your “social activities” rely on it! Let’s take a look at the following relevant cases. Xiao Wang is about to graduate, but he still hasn’t found a suitable job. Those who have found jobs are busy signing contracts and processing their official documents. When the topic of personnel records came up, he looked confused: How should they handle them at the time of graduation? What are the consequences if there is no personnel file? 　 If you don’t have a record, it will affect your applications for graduate studies and civil service positions, as the recruitment agencies will check your record before deciding whether to hire you ； Secondly, it will be difficult for you to get employed in state-owned enterprises and public institutions, as you need to bring your personnel file when going through the procedures for transferring there ； Third, it will also have an impact on your marriage and childbearing, as couples of childbearing age must have a family planning certificate issued by the local authorities where their records are kept; otherwise, they are not allowed to have children ； Ultimately, handling social insurance will become a major issue, as the salary, length of service, position, and duration of coverage recorded in the personnel file serve as the main bases for processing social insurance. Even attempts to pursue a career as a doctor or lawyer will be rejected, as entry into such specific fields is simply not allowed without the necessary records. “What’s the use of institutions like a “Talent Exchange Center”? Talent service agencies can be considered the \"backyard\" for your records. It is a personnel management service agency that provides file management for mobile workers; its services include background checks for going abroad, professional title evaluations, handling the payment of various social insurances, and obtaining birth quotas, among others. In this society with rapid personnel turnover, it relieves us of worries. As long as we pay a certain storage fee (20 yuan per month), and we don’t even have to cover this fee out of our own pocket since quite a few organizations reimburse it, we can leave the rest to them. Now, as for Xiao Wang, there is no suitable employer willing to take him on at the moment. Well, according to the regulations: the school may transfer the student’s household registration to the place where it was registered before enrollment, based on the student’s wishes. It is important to note that if the file is returned to the place of origin, one must promptly go to the local personnel department within the specified time frame to complete the necessary procedures; otherwise, it will be considered as a case of \"abandoning the file\". Xiao Li is an ordinary undergraduate graduate who failed to find a suitable job after graduating from college, and his personnel file has remained in his possession. He thought that if it were placed in a talent exchange center, high fees would still have to be paid every year, which would not be cost-effective at all. If it’s in your own hands, as long as you don’t make any modifications, there should be no problem. To his surprise, three years later he finally got a chance to work at a state-owned enterprise, yet they rejected his application. What was the reason for this? Li’s approach is completely wrong. According to **regulations, archives cannot be carried, kept, or altered by the individual themselves. Carrying your own documents comes with a series of problems: if you keep them yourself, any damage to the sealing of the bag means that your previous documents become invalid. If you are admitted to a state-owned institution, you must have your academic records transferred. If the documents are in your own hands, the organization is likely to refuse to accept them, as the transfer of documents always takes place between organizations. How to remedy it? When this situation occurs, there are remedies available; this requires going through the relevant procedures and paying the missing fees. If you want to make up for the pension and health insurance coverage for the first three years, you will need to pay the custody fee for those three years; if you start enrolling in insurance only now, then no custody fee is required. So, never carry the files by yourself. If you don’t have a job for the time being, you can also leave it at the talent exchange center. In this way, it becomes a record recognized by the future taking-over entity; pension insurance can be paid, and it can be counted as service time. After graduating from university, Mr. Zhang became a teacher at a certain college, signing a three-year contract. But two years later, he registered for the national postgraduate entrance examination, passed the second-round interview, and received a letter requesting the transfer of his files. At this point, Mr. Zhang negotiated with the university to request the transfer of his records. To their surprise, all of them were rejected by the universities for transferring their records on the grounds of violating the employment contract. In fact, Mr. Zhang need not panic about this, as the employer has no right to withhold your records; doing so is illegal. For such issues, there are two key points: First, if one wants to terminate the employment contract, how should they notify the employer? If one wishes to terminate the employment contract, they should give the employer written notice 30 days in advance, without the need to obtain the employer’s consent. In other words, whether the employer agrees or not, the labor contract with the employer is terminated 30 days after your resignation letter is submitted. However, both parties will assume their respective responsibilities in accordance with the contract provisions. If it exceeds 30 days, the employer will also handle it. However, since you violated the labor contract and caused economic losses to the employer, you shall bear corresponding compensation responsibilities in accordance with relevant laws and regulations as well as the terms of the contract. As for the maximum limit on liquidated damages, the Labor Law does not specify it currently, but it generally varies depending on the circumstances and location. For example, in Beijing, the \"Beijing Labor Contract Law\" explicitly stipulates that the penalty payable by an employee to the employer shall not exceed the total amount of his or her wages for the 12 months prior to terminating the contract. However, if you request to terminate the employment contract without giving the employer written notice 30 days in advance, the employer may refuse to proceed with it. Second, what should be done in case of record-related issues when resigning? If the situation is indeed as Mr. Zhang describes, that is, if there has already been a labor dispute related to such resignations – where your former employer refuses to handle the transfer of your employment records when you resign – then you can file an arbitration application with the labor dispute arbitration committee in the location of your former employer. After the arbitration decision leads to the termination of the employment relationship with the previous employer, that employer is required to transfer your records to your new employer in a timely manner, as per the regulations ； If you don’t have a workplace at this time, it should be transferred to your place of household registration. If you are not satisfied with the arbitration decision, you may file a lawsuit with the people’s court within the statutory time limit (within 15 days from the date you receive the arbitration decision).