Former Employee Accuses Manner Coffee of Reducing Wages During Pandemic! Manner Responds Will Pursue Legal Action

The base salary was calculated based on working hours; 2. For April, with no owed work hours, employees would receive 80% of Shanghai's minimum wage (after social insurance and housing fund contributions), amounting to 2,072 yuan. Employees were asked to choose their preferred option, and were required to provide handwritten signatures as confirmation through screenshots.

The poster indicated that wages would be paid on the 10th of the month, while this WeChat screenshot was shared at 10 PM on May 9th by the manager of a Manner store, urging everyone to make their selection quickly. The notice also included an April Absence Hours Agreement and an April Living Expenses Confirmation Agreement.

Public Reaction and Manner's Response

After the article was published, it triggered complaints from many former and current Manner employees. Other netizens continued to share the incident, causing it to trend on Weibo's hot topics. Subsequently, Manner Company issued a statement at noon yesterday, claiming that current employee Chen had used the Xiaohongshu account "Xia Mu" to publish several false statements about Manner, distorting facts and baselessly guiding public opinion. Additionally, Chen colluded with other accounts for malicious likes and shares, which was deemed to be of a serious nature, severely damaging Manner Company's reputation and violating the labor contract and confidentiality agreement signed upon employment. The company also stated that they had reported the matter to the police, requesting to pursue criminal liability, and that the company had confirmed receipt of a lawyer's letter requesting to pursue civil liability.

In its statement, Manner also identified former employee Zhu, now employed by Shanghai Aiqia Catering Service Co., Ltd. (Mstand Coffee), who had previously published several articles severely damaging Manner's reputation using the Xiaohongshu account "julia" (now deleted).

Manner stated that Zhu's behavior violated the labor contract and confidentiality agreement signed during employment with Manner. Despite knowing about the non-compete agreement, Zhu still violated the law by joining another coffee brand and receiving double salaries. Manner also mentioned that it remains unclear whether Zhu was directly or indirectly authorized by Mstand, but they have contacted Hangzhou police to pursue criminal liability and will file a lawsuit.

Manner's Wage Payment Explanation

After stating that legal action would be taken against some former and current employees, Manner addressed the wage payment issue. Manner explained that during the pandemic period when the majority of stores were closed, they paid full basic salaries (ranging from 3,600-11,300 yuan) and continued to contribute to social insurance and housing funds normally. This amount was far higher than Shanghai's minimum wage of 2,590 yuan and also significantly exceeded Shanghai's living standard of 2,072 yuan, making it a first in the industry.

Manner further explained that the required working hours for Manner partners were reduced from 167 hours by 70% to 50 hours, effectively doubling the unit hourly wage rate. Additionally, Manner provided a subsidy of 350 yuan per business working day for each store employee during the April pandemic period, the highest in the industry. For these reasons, Manner stated that they have been actively providing excellent benefits to their partners, treating them like family, and couldn't understand the motives behind the three users who published false statements.

Manner also mentioned Zhu again (now an employee at Mstand), who had repeatedly emphasized that her company (Mstand) offered better benefits, despite Mstand not having paid 13th-month salaries in 2021. Manner considered Zhu's standards inconsistent and her actions baffling. By referencing this incident, Manner encouraged other coffee brands in the industry to improve their standards, urging them to match Manner's wage treatment of partners during the pandemic. They called for raising the monthly wages of store partners who have passed assessments to 8,000-17,900 yuan (plus normal social insurance and housing fund contributions), to effectively protect the interests of store partners.

Legal Analysis of Wage Payments

So was Manner's wage payment approach reasonable? A lawyer stated that according to the "Interim Provisions on Wage Payment" issued by the Ministry of Labor, if a company suspends operations or production due to reasons not attributable to the employee within one wage payment cycle, the employer should pay the employee wages according to the standards stipulated in the labor contract. If the suspension exceeds one wage payment cycle, if the employee provides normal labor, the labor remuneration paid to the employee should not be lower than the local minimum wage standard; if the employee does not provide normal labor, the matter should be handled in accordance with relevant state regulations.

If Manner Company's statement is accurate, then their wage payments complied with relevant regulations. Whether it was Manner or other coffee brands, baristas' wages during the pandemic were paid in full based on their basic salaries, but make-up hours would be required after stores resumed operations according to different position requirements.

In addition to choosing to receive normal wages now but make up hours later, employees could also choose not to make up hours later but receive only 2,072 yuan in wages. For employees who didn't work for the entire month, the payment of 2,072 yuan according to relevant laws ensured they could cover living expenses during the pandemic.

Legal Implications of Defamation Claims

Regarding Manner's statement about pursuing criminal and civil liability against employees, it appears Manner believes the employees' actions on Xiaohongshu had a certain impact on the brand. A lawyer stated that if employees or former employees intentionally fabricate and spread false facts, damaging the company's business reputation, they may be suspected of the crime of damaging business reputation or defamation. It might be precisely because of these consequences that the parties involved deleted their online content. Current laws are relatively complete. If one believes their legitimate rights and interests have been infringed upon, they can protect their rights through relevant arbitration. Transforming from a former labor relationship to both parties publishing their ID numbers online for public confrontation creates awkwardness for both sides.

Image source: Xiaohongshu, Weibo

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