The salary in the offer does not match the salary in the contract

It is the graduation season again and you are preparing to join the workplace. Do you know about labor laws? Whether you are starting a business as a boss or "working as a worker", you may encounter labor disputes. Today, I will tell you about labor. The controversial matters

Review of the case After Xiao Wang participated in campus recruitment, he received an "Employment Confirmation Letter" from a certain company. After confirming and agreeing to the "Confirmation Letter", Xiao Wang, a university graduate, joined a certain company in July 2019. The two parties signed a written labor contract, agreeing that the remuneration will be implemented in accordance with the certain company's salary system. Later, Xiao Wang believed that the labor contract made substantial changes to the salary content in the "Employment Confirmation Letter", which led to him signing the labor contract against his true intention. In September 2020, Xiao Wang applied for labor arbitration. He refused to accept the arbitration award and took the lawsuit to the court, requiring a company to pay arrears of labor remuneration in accordance with the law. A company argued that the rights and obligations of both parties should be subject to the labor contract, and that it had paid labor remuneration in full and in a timely manner in accordance with the labor contract and the company's salary management system. There was a clerical error regarding the annual salary in the "Employment Confirmation Letter", and a company has explained it to Xiao Wang.

Gist of the Judgment: The court held that the "Employment Confirmation Letter" signed by both parties in this case was only the preliminary intention reached by both parties. Moreover, the two parties signed a formal labor contract, and the labor contract has clearly stipulated Xiao Wang's salary and benefits. Therefore, the rights and obligations between the two parties should be subject to the labor contract. A company pays labor remuneration to Xiao Wang every month in accordance with the provisions of the labor contract. However, Xiao Wang did not raise any objection for more than one year before applying for labor arbitration. This is inconsistent with common sense. Now he uses the "Employment Confirmation Letter" to claim that a company defaults on payment. The labor remuneration is insufficiently justified and violates the principle of good faith. In the end, the court rejected Xiao Wang’s lawsuit.

The judge said that the "Employment Confirmation Letter" (commonly known as Offer) is a preliminary agreement between the employer and the employee regarding future employment intentions, and is not a formal labor contract. If the offer is inconsistent with the labor contract, the rights and obligations of both parties shall be subject to the final labor contract.

As a reminder to all newcomers in the workplace,

When signing a labor contract, you should pay attention to: 1. Carefully compare the labor contract and the offer for any inconsistencies. If any inconsistency is found, report it promptly. Submit it to the unit, otherwise it will be deemed as acceptance of the labor contract. 2. Pay special attention to the period for raising objections. For objections to remuneration, in judicial practice, two salary payment periods, that is, 60 days, are generally considered as a reasonable period. 3. When raising objections, workers should pay attention to retaining evidence, and can submit them to the company through the company's electronic business system, express mail, etc., or directly complain to the labor inspection department.