71. What is the starting and ending time for the adjustment of employee medical insurance rate?

A: Starting from this year, the starting and ending time for the payment of employee medical insurance and social security insurance will be July 1st of the current year and June 30th of the following year. Employees' medical insurance payment in 2019 will be extended for 3 months.

72. How can enterprises apply for the subsidies for online training due to the impact of the epidemic?

A: In Shanghai, in order to get the subsidies, enterprises should file first, and then carry out the training.

Prior to training, consistent with the system for collection and administration of taxation, the enterprise should be filed at district-level human resources and social security department, submit materials such as application report, training program, enterprise qualification, and sign the letter of commitment on the application of subsidies for organizing employees to participate in online vocational training during operation suspension incurred by the epidemic. After the training course is completed, enterprise shall submit the trainee roster, credentials of teaching record, enterprises' bank account information. Once approved, the subsidies for the training fee will be allocated to the enterprise within three months.

Subsidies will be done with no direct–contact approach, such as e-mail, fax or express delivery. Pudong or other competent districts have also built their own application systems to raise the efficiency of handling subsidies application. Enterprises may refer to the application handling contact lists of each district for consultation. The latest version can be found on Wechat, Weibo and App of Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

73. If a company entrusts a third party to provide online training services, what are the requirements for the third-party service provider?

A: In principle, there are three requirements for "third-party online training services provider": they must be in possession of a self-owned platform, courses and proof for real training process. That is to say, the online training service provider should be able to provide sign-in registration, learning record, Q&A and quiz to ensure the learning process can be checked and traced.

In addition, enterprises carrying out their own online training should also meet the above-mentioned requirements in order to get training subsidies.

74. Is there any directory of designated training institutions or training courses? What is the subsidy standard? How to define period of operation suspension? When will this policy expire?

A: There are no designated training institutions. Employees can attend online training through self-developed platforms, various APPs or third-party online training courses provider commissioned by the enterprise.

The training, related to the primary businesses of enterprises, should meet the practical needs of the enterprises' operation.

The standard is that subsidies will cover 95% of training costs filed with and recognized by the district-level human resources and social security department. In principle, every employee is entitled to no more than 600 yuan per training program, and no more than 3 times of subsidies.

Period of operation suspension refers to the period when an entire or partial operation is suspended as defined by district-level human resources and social security departments in accordance with the actual suspension of operation.

This policy will be effective as of the date of issuance of Shanghai's 28 Policy Measures and stay valid until the epidemic is over. In practice, district-level governments can extend the implementation period according to the actual resumption situation. The period can be extended "until three months after the epidemic is over", as is stipulated in "Shanghai's 28 Policy Measures".

V. Promotion of an orderly resumption of work and production

75. My company wants a resumption of work. How to apply?

A: No approval is needed. On Feb 28, Shanghai issued a new version of guidance on resumption of work. Enterprises can resume operation once they complete the filing procedure through All-in-one Portal and no approval is needed provided that the enterprises have put in place sound epidemic prevention and control measures.

Companies seeking resumption could access online registration (filing) system of resumption in "COVID-19 Prevention and Control" column through All-in-one Portal of Shanghai. To complete the filing procedures, enterprises should upload "Prevention and Control Plan", confirm the commitment to measures of epidemic control and submit. For technical problems, please call 021-38919099.

Enterprises in construction, part of life services, cultural and entertainment industry should resume work under the guidance of relevant competent industrial authorities.

76. Our company has clients across China. Although restrictions on logistics within Yangtze River Delta region have been lifted, they still remain in other areas, resulting in failure of goods delivery to the warehouse of the clients even though they have been already arrived at the clients' cities. Can Shanghai coordinate this matter?

A: Demands of enterprises for logistics and transportation services are growing as they gradually resume work. National-level guidelines have been issued to coordinate prevention and control of the epidemic and resumption of work and production, in the way that the responsibilities of monitoring and facilitating resumptions are assigned, unequivocally, to each district based on the domiciles of enterprises. Notice on Work by Governments of All Levels on Guaranteeing Road Transportation Service in Urban and Rural Areas during the Epidemic Prevention and Control with Science-based Approaches, issued by the Ministry of Transport on February 28th, also requires local governments to adopt differentiated managing and control measures and resume road transportation services in urban and rural areas based on the list of county-level jurisdictions by different risk assessments (low-risk, moderate-risk and high-risk). Currently, the national road transportation network are restoring in an orderly manner. The designated authorities of Shanghai will do their best to solve the specific difficulties of enterprises by coordination and carry them safely through resumption.

77. Many of my workers living in the Yangtze River Delta region still faces restrictions during their daily commute to Shanghai . Is there a solution to that?

A: At a video conference hosted by top leaders of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui on joint efforts for prevention and control of COVID-19 within the Yangtze River Delta region, 7 areas for collaboration were identified with a mechanism being established and official papers being circulated as reference for implementation.

Among the 7 areas, the second one is the establishment of mutual recognition system for Notification for Completion of Health Observation. A unified format will be adopted for the notification which will be issued by designated organizations for people who have completed their quarantine with the contact information of the organizations included. The notification will be recognized in the whole region, which will spare the carriers from a second quarantine.

At the current stage, the three provinces and the city of Shanghai have put in place the innovative application of QR code for COVID-19 prevention and control. In accordance with the consensus reached in the video conference by the attending leaders, the relevant authorities are implementing the roll-out of the QR mechanism.

Currently, the three provinces and the city of Shanghai have agreed upon areas that include the standards, scope of application and the mutual recognition mechanism for the QR code. The implementation of the mechanism will be expedited following the principle of equal validity for the QR code and the notification offering convenience for the resumption of work and production as well as people's daily lives within the region.

78. My company is a household appliance manufacturing company with half of the staff living in Jiangsu Province and commuting daily by road. The average pass time is 1.5 hours at the Huaqiao Toll Station Checkpoint or 30 minutes at Shanghai-Changzhou Highway Checkpoint. Is there any measure to be taken to shorten their commuting time?

A: In accordance with the requirements of the central government, support for enterprise resumption has been increasingly intensified in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui. At present, traffic restrictions across provincial borders have been officially lifted and highway traffic within the three provinces and Shanghai has already been restored to business as usual status.

Take the toll stations in Anting, Jiading District in Shanghai and Huaqiao, Kunshan of Jiangsu Province as examples, currently, with conditions permitting, all the lanes are open for traffic on G2 Beijing-Shanghai Highway. To be specific, all the 8 lanes are open for traffic through Huaqiao Toll Station of G2 Beijing-Shanghai Highway and it is the same for both the 2 lanes (1 for each direction) at Lvdi Avenue Toll Station of G2 Beijing-Shanghai Highway at Huaqiao.

Some enterprises have met the problem of long commuting time of their staff. Again, take Anting and Huaqiao as examples, statistics show that during rush hour in the morning, the waiting line to enter into Shanghai at Huaqiao Toll Station adds up to 800 meters long. This situation is mainly caused by three factors. First, the Ministry of Transport still requires strict implementation of all kinds of prevention and control measures including temperature check at inter-provincial traffic and transportation checkpoints. Second, inter-provincial commuting is increasing due to concentrated resumption of enterprises combined with returning migrants. Third, the times for exit and entry via road transportation vary in correlation to the traffic situation in the downtown area of Shanghai. As epidemic control situation improves and most residents return to Shanghai, it is projected that inter-provincial commuting time will be shortened.

79. As enterprises are stepping up the pace to resume work and production, staff recruiting remains a difficulty for them. On the supply side, migrant workers are unable to leave their hometown for work in Shanghai; on the demand side, enterprises find it hard to recruit new staff due to frequent flow of human resources within the Yangtze River Delta region. Can the government help us deal with this problem?

A: At present, recruitment needs are mounting as more and more enterprises are resuming work. Labor shortage has become the most direct problem for most enterprises.

On February 27th, the top leaders of provincial administrations in the Yangtze River Delta region hosted a video conference in which a mechanism of coordination and cooperation to support recruitment by enterprises for resumption was established and was listed as one of the five working mechanisms of coordinating epidemic prevention and control with socioeconomic development of Yangtze River Delta region for further implementation.

A preliminary action plan has been proposed by relevant department to deal with the labor shortage through two specific measures.

First, an information alignment mechanism shall be established. Human resources authorities in three provinces and Shanghai shall keep in close work contact with each other and sort out the labor demand of the local enterprises in a timely manner, collect information about job vacancies, as well as supporting policies and measures for employment which will be released on official employment service platforms in the region. Local public recruitment information centers or their WeChat official accounts will be leveraged to organize online job fairs and matchmaking activities to maximize communication and exchanges between recruiters and candidates.

Second, a service mechanism will be established to help migrant workers return to their posts. In accordance with the latest local requirements on prevention and control, human resources authorities in the three provinces and Shanghai shall match the supply and demand sides of labor service with precision, as well as proactively communicate and coordinate with enterprises and relevant authorities such as health, transportation and public security on the drafting and implementation of detailed plans that connect supply and demand sides of labor service with specified return times, routes as well as personnel arrangements. For cases of directional group returning, the role of One-on-one Service Platform for Matching Migrant Worker Labor Service established by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security shall be given a full play to provide green access for returning workers.

80. Some provinces and cities arrange chartered buses or flights to take workers back for work. Is there any supporting measure in Shanghai to help with this matter too?

A: Shanghai is strengthening efforts to keep the traffic and transportation in order and the roads unblocked. On February 22nd, the Office of the Leading Group for Epidemic Prevention and Control of Shanghai issued the Notice on Further Regulation of Quarantine, Check and Control Measures in the City's Entrances and Exits and Guaranteeing Orderly Traffic and Transportation as well as Unblocked Traffic. The Notice encompasses regulation of the city's entrances and exits, maximum opening of accesses, as well as improvement on approval rate of chartered bus application, to further ensure unblocked transportation of trucks, to increase the number of vacant parking lots in the city, to restore inter-provincial passenger transport by steps, etc.

Efforts are being made in Shanghai to further optimize the management and service for migrant workers returning to Shanghai by chartered buses. Major employers in each district are required to keep one-on-one contact with major labor sources so as to strengthen the connection between supply and demand sides of HR services. Meanwhile, enterprises are encouraged to take workers back to Shanghai by arranging chartered bus as contribution to orderly traffic.