Maimaicha Responds to Rumor of Unpaid Back Wages
Ebrun, 12/13/12
On December 13, Chinese online tea retailer Maimaicha told Ebrun that Shanghai Huaxia Chalian Chaye, which is rumored to owe employees unpaid back wages, is a partner, rather than a subsidiary, of Maimaicha parent company Shandong Huaxia Chalian Chaye.
Maimaicha said that staffing upheavals at the Shanghai company were "largely unrelated" to the Huaxia Chalian Group. The online tea retailer said that the Shanghai company was only one of Huaxia Chalian chairman Ma Yufeng's many investment projects, and that Ma owned only a small share of the Shanghai company.
According to Maimaicha, Huaxia Chalian is comprised of three divisions: a Jinan subsidiary responsible for Maimaicha's back-end, warehousing, and other technical support, a Beijing subsidiary responsible for brand promotions and e-commerce operations, and Maimaicha's self-owned Rizhao Yuqing Chaye tea brand. Shanghai Huaxia Chalian has provided one-stop services for the tea companies using Maimaicha's platform, and is responsible for the design and packaging of tea under Maimaicha's self-owned brand, but does not fall directly under the Huaxia Chalian Group.
On the subject of previously reported Maimaicha merger and restructuring plans, Maimaicha said that plans do not call for the Shanghai company to be merged with the site's Beijing subsidiary. Rather, the Beijing subsidiary will take on some of the Shanghai company's outgoing employees. "Chairman Ma feels that since the design staff at the Shanghai company has worked with us for so long, and since we know each other so well, we hope that they will come and work in Beijing if they are willing," a spokesperson said.
When asked whether Shanghai Huaxia Chalian would continue operations, the spokesperson said that the matter would be subject to discussion by company shareholders.
In its marketing and promotional efforts, Huaxia Chalian had consistently counted the Shanghai company as a part of the group, a move that the spokesperson said was purely for purposes of consistency in public relations.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Maimaicha's Employees Expose Unpaid Back-wages Issue" MD 12/13/12 issue.
Keywords: B2C scandal e-commerce Internet Maimaicha Ma Yufeng Huaxia Chalian Chaye Rizhao Yuqing Chaye wage HR
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