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How to Handle COVID-19 Related Disputes Properly
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4月20日，最高法公布《关于依法妥善审理涉新冠肺炎疫情民事案件若干问题的指导意见（一）》（下称《指导意见》）.
The guidance regulates the trial of civil cases involving the epidemic with regards to 10 aspects, such as the accurate application of force majeure rules, the proper handling of contract disputes and the handling of labor cases in accordance with the law. The highlights are as follows:该指导意见从依法准确适用不可抗力规则、妥善审理合同纠纷案件、处理劳动争议案件等10个方面对涉疫情民事案件审理进行了规范。要点如下：
1. Accurately applying the rules of force majeure in accordance with the law. When hearing civil cases involving the epidemic, the courts shall accurately apply the specific provisions of force majeure and strictly understand the conditions for its application.Civil disputes directly affected by epidemic situations or epidemic prevention and control measures which meet the statutory requirements of force majeure shall be properly dealt with in accordance with related laws and regulations.If a party claims partial or total exemption due to force majeure, it shall bear the burden of proof for the fact that force majeure directly results in partial or total failure to perform its obligations.1、依法准确适用不可抗力规则。人民法院审理涉疫情民事案件，要准确适用不可抗力的具体规定，严格把握适用条件。对于受疫情或者疫情防控措施直接影响而产生的民事纠纷，符合不可抗力法定要件的，就按有关规定妥善处理；当事人主张适用不可抗力部分或者全部免责的，应当就不可抗力直接导致民事义务部分或者全部不能履行的事实承担举证责任。
2. Contract disputes directly affected by the epidemic or epidemic prevention and control measures shall, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, be handled in accordance with the following rules based on a comprehensive consideration of the impact of the epidemic situation in different regions, different industries and different cases when the law is applied to accurately understand the causal relationship and the extent of the causal force between the epidemic situation or the epidemic prevention and control measures and the failure to perform the contract:2、受疫情或者疫情防控措施直接影响而产生的合同纠纷案件，除当事人另有约定外，在适用法律时，应当综合考量疫情对不同地区、不同行业、不同案件的影响，准确把握疫情或者疫情防控措施与合同不能履行之间的因果关系和原因力大小，按照以下规则处理：
(I) If the epidemic situation or the epidemic prevention and control measures directly caused the failure to perform the contract, the provisions of force majeure shall apply in accordance with the law, and a party shall be exempted in part or in whole from liability based upon the extent to which the epidemic situation or the epidemic prevention and control measures had an impact on discharging its obligations.（1）疫情或者疫情防控措施直接导致合同不能履行的，依法适用不可抗力的规定，根据疫情或者疫情防控措施的影响程度部分或者全部免除责任。
(II) If the epidemic situation or the epidemic prevention and control measures only lead to difficulties in the performance of the contract, the parties concerned may renegotiate.The court shall deny the request to rescind a contract because of difficulty in performance of the contract.In case that the objectives of a contract cannot be achieved due to the epidemic or the epidemic prevention and control measures, and a party concerned requests for rescission of the contract, the court shall support the request.（2）疫情或者疫情防控措施仅导致合同履行困难的，当事人可以重新协商；当事人以合同履行困难为由请求解除合同的，人民法院不予支持。因疫情或者疫情防控措施导致合同目的不能实现，当事人请求解除合同的，人民法院应予支持。
3. Support companies in adopting flexible working methods in accordance with laws and regulations during the epidemic prevention and control period.In hearing the cases of labor disputes involving the epidemic, Article 26 of the Labor Law of the People's Republic of China, Article 40 of the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China and other provisions shall be applied accurately.The court shall not uphold a company’s claim to rescind the employment relation with an employee on the grounds that the employee is a confirmed positive patient of COVID-19, suspected of COVID-19, asymptomatic carrier, isolated person according to the law or because the employee stems from a region with relatively serious epidemic problems.3、支持用人单位在疫情防控期间依法依规采用灵活工作方式。审理涉疫情劳动争议案件时，要准确适用《中华人民共和国劳动法》第二十六条、《中华人民共和国劳动合同法》第四十条等规定。用人单位仅以劳动者是新冠肺炎确诊患者、疑似新冠肺炎患者、无症状感染者、被依法隔离人员或者劳动者来自疫情相对严重的地区为由主张解除劳动关系的，法院不予支持。
4. Applying punitive damages in accordance with the law where an operator illegally operates masks, goggles, protective suits, disinfectants and other anti-epidemic articles, or food or drugs.4、经营者违约经营口罩、护目镜、防护服、消毒液等防疫物品以及食品、药品的，可依法适用惩罚性赔偿。
Note:The provisions in Article 26 of the Labor Law of the PRC and Article 40 of the Labor Contract Law of the PRC are similar, we quoted related provisions in Article 40 of the Labor Contract Law of the PRC as below for your reference:In the case of any of the following circumstances, the employer may discharge the labor contract after it notifies the worker himself in writing 30 days in advance or after it pays the worker an extra month's salary:
(1) The worker falls ill or is injured for a non-work-related reason, who is not able to bear the original post after the expiration of the medical treatment period as prescribed, nor can he assume any other position as arranged by the employer;…
(3) The objective circumstance has altered significantly, on which the conclusion of the labor contract is based, which results in that the labor contract is unable to be performed. And no agreement concerning the modification of contents of the labor contract is reached after consultations between the employer and the worker.注：《中华人民共和国劳动法》第二十六条、《中华人民共和国劳动合同法》第四十条的规定是相似的，在此我们引用《中华人民共和国劳动合同法》第四十条的相关规定作为参考：有下列情形之一的，用人单位提前三十日以书面形式通知劳动者本人或者额外支付劳动者一个月工资后，可以解除劳动合同：1.劳动者患病或者非因工负伤，在规定的医疗期满后不能从事原工作，也不能从事由用人单位另行安排的工作的；…3.劳动合同订立时所依据的客观情况发生重大变化，致使劳动合同无法履行，经用人单位与劳动者协商，未能就变更劳动合同内容达成协议的。
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