Transcending Labor Relations: A Study on the Mechanisms for Protecting Social Insurance Rights and Interests of Workers in New Business Forms

— An Empirical Analysis Based on Judicial Cases

YUE Zongfu

Abstract: With the rise of new business forms, the traditional industrial-era model of binding social insurance to labor relations is facing unprecedented challenges. In the context of these new business forms, whether the protection of workers’ social insurance rights and interests can be “decoupled from labor relations” has become a hotly debated topic in academia, with “the ability to establish labor relations” emerging as a key variable influencing government departments’ policy choices on classified social insurance coverage. Based on this, the paper constructs a theoretical model of the correlation between social insurance and labor relations to analyze cases concerning the protection of social insurance rights and interests of workers in new business forms. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of binding social insurance to labor relations and suggests promoting social insurance policy innovation by transcending labor relations. The paper advocates abandoning the path dependency that starts with labor relations and clarifying the theoretical basis that workers’ access to social insurance rights should be based on labor rather than employment. To adapt to the profit model of new business forms, it proposes establishing a rule of “proportional responsibility for commissions,” where the social insurance contribution base is determined by the proportion and amount of corporate commissions. By reasonably setting rates, it will protect the healthy development of new business forms in a balanced manner. In this way, enterprises can share social insurance responsibilities according to unified rules without worrying about being classified as having a labor relationship, which helps fully protect workers’ social insurance rights and interests and promotes fair competition and healthy development among enterprises.

Keywords: workers in new business forms · transcending labor relations · social insurance · judicial cases