A company operating normally suddenly emptied its premises overnight after issuing a notice of "company-wide shutdown". Recently, multiple employees of Xi'an Mingde Qizhi Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Mingde Qizhi") contacted a newspaper, stating that while they worked for Mingde Qizhi since joining, their salaries were paid and their labor contracts were signed with a third-party company. Now, Mingde Qizhi has relocated to an unknown location, and its management has "lost contact", leaving them unsure how to protect their rights.
At 11 p.m. on the 24th, the company notified of a "company-wide shutdown", leaving wages originally scheduled for payment on the 25th in limbo.
On the morning of May 25th, Xiao Zhang, a network sales administrator at Mingde Qizhi, went to work as usual at the company's office in a building on Gaoxin Second Road in Xi'an. As he neared the office and prepared to clock in on the DingTalk app, he was shocked to find that all company managers, previously in the group, had inexplicably disappeared from the app. A notice posted on DingTalk at 11:34 p.m. on May 24th, titled "Notice on the Company Launching Internal Review of Major Matters and Suspending Business", left Xiao Zhang utterly confused.
The notice stated that, following an urgent notification from investors, significant unaccounted funds and severe internal management disorder were discovered during recent cooperation with fund audits and due diligence checks on departed personnel. This "has caused substantial serious damage to shareholder interests and employees' long-term benefits and has severely impacted business operations". Therefore, "effective immediately, internal review of abnormal management behavior is initiated, platform systems are closed for log sealing, and data flow is reviewed", while financial approvals are suspended, all external business activities cease immediately, and a "company-wide shutdown" is effective from this date until the internal review concludes. Regarding HR issues like salary payments, the notice stated they would "be notified by Human Resources no later than the 29th of this month (May)".
Upon arriving at the office, Xiao Zhang found the corridor filled with colleagues. The glass doors to the three large offices on either side of the corridor were locked, leaving behind only rows of empty desks and chairs. On-site, an employee told reporters that after seeing the DingTalk notice, someone had come to the office in the middle of the night and found that computers, microwaves, air conditioners, and other items had been removed. Currently, not only was DingTalk "down", but the company's office software and corporate WeChat had also removed them.
Despite employees trying to contact company leaders, phones were either switched off or "busy". The sudden "loss of contact" from management puzzled them, and thinking of the unpaid wages added to their frustration. Employees believed that even if the company was conducting an internal audit, it should not affect or delay paying staff salaries.
"The company pays salaries on the 25th of each month. Now the company suddenly claims internal audit, declares a 'company-wide shutdown', moves out, and doesn't pay wages. Is it really due to problems as the notice says, or is this intentional to avoid paying? The company was operating normally before, and there were no signs before the 'clear-out'. Combined with being unable to contact any leaders now, the whole thing feels suspicious," Xiao Zhang said. He is owed two months' salary totaling 8,000 yuan, while some colleagues are owed up to four months' wages exceeding ten thousand yuan.
"Our company has over 200 employees. Rough estimates suggest the unpaid wages amount to millions..."
On the morning of May 28th, when reporters visited the company site again, employees, mid-level managers, and even cleaning staff all claimed their wages were in arrears. Checking the company's DingTalk also showed it was "empty". As of that day, the read count on the company's "notice" showed 213 people had read it, with 5 unread.
According to the building's property management staff, Mingde Qizhi moved into the building in July last year. However, as the lease contract was signed directly with the property owner, details about the situation and lease expiry would need to be confirmed with the landlord. Subsequently, reporters found the landlord, Mr. Lu. He stated that the leased office space was approximately 1,000 square meters, with a monthly rent of over 50,000 yuan, and the lease term ran from last August to December this year. However, the company is now three months behind on rent, owing about 150,000 yuan. "I've asked for the rent many times. Each time the person in charge, Wang, said he needed to apply to headquarters, but then there was no follow-up."
The company was listed as "business abnormal" by market regulators last year.
At the entrance of Mingde Qizhi, reporters saw that the company name previously posted on the wall facing the glass door at the reception was gone, while multiple plaques and a commendation banner on an office wall remained. Using phone numbers of several leaders provided by employees, reporters called each one, but calls were either unanswered or the service was suspended, with none connecting. Subsequently, reporters tried calling the company person in charge, Wang, whom landlord Mr. Lu contacted for rent, but the line was consistently "busy". Up to the time of publication, repeated calls by reporters also failed to connect.
During interviews, company employees Xiao Liu, Xiao Jia, Xiao Zhu, Xiao Song, and others explained they all worked in online course sales for Mingde Qizhi. However, when joining the company, their labor contracts were signed and social insurance was paid by a company based in Tianjin. Some employees stated their contracts were signed via text message, and they later couldn't view their contracts or know if they were retained. Others mentioned that besides the Tianjin company paying salaries, one wage payment in April this year was actually made by a company from Yancheng.
Reviewing individual labor contracts provided by employees, along with "position salary confirmation letters" from onboarding and multiple WeChat transfer screenshots, it was evident employees had signed contracts with different companies, but none were found signed directly with Mingde Qizhi.
A business information query shows Mingde Qizhi was established in September 2024, with a registered address in Room X, 14th Floor, Building B, a certain building on Yanta West Road, Xi'an. Reporters went to this registered address but found it occupied by another company. The person in charge of that company, Mr. Li, stated his company provides registered address services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Shortly after its establishment in June 2024, Mingde Qizhi registered its address there, which is an incubator address. He indicated the annual registration fee is 1,000 yuan, and Mingde Qizhi renewed the fee after the first year. As this company also did not know Mingde Qizhi's current location, its staff contacted a service provider from a financial firm that had previously served Mingde Qizhi to inquire about finding them, but without success.
In fact, as early as October 23, 2025, on Mingde Qizhi's business information, the Yanta District Market Supervision Administration in Xi'an had listed it as "business abnormal" due to "being unable to contact through the registered address or business premises".
Mr. Zhang, who managed a 30-person sales team at Mingde Qizhi, stated in an interview that he was unclear about the company's specific issues. However, on May 15th this year, when he met a company leader in Beijing, he was asked to disband the team. He refused, believing the company had not yet paid employee salaries.
Regarding the labor relationship between employees and Mingde Qizhi, Mr. Zhang explained that in March this year, the company's HR department uniformly sent text messages/emails asking employees to sign with a third party and change their labor entity. Many people signed at that time. Regarding social insurance, HR would ask each person upon joining. Those willing to pay would have five social insurances but no housing fund. Those voluntarily opting out were promised a monthly subsidy of 500 yuan.
As of May 29th, multiple employees stated they had not received any notification from the company regarding wage payments. However, in the afternoon around 4 p.m., another announcement from Mingde Qizhi appeared on DingTalk, stating they were still communicating with shareholders and the financial review was ongoing, with no mention of employee wages.
Currently, some employees have reported and complained to the local labor inspection brigade and market supervision authorities.
Legal expert suggests multiple strategies for employee rights protection: administrative complaint + criminal report + labor arbitration.
Regarding rights protection, many employees find it difficult. Although they have always clocked in and worked at Mingde Qizhi, their labor contracts were not signed with this company, and their salaries were not paid by it, leaving them unsure how to proceed.
Regarding this, reporters interviewed Huang Yueling, a senior partner and experienced lawyer at Shaanxi Zhizheng Law Firm. He believes that such a large number of employees being collectively shut down, with a significant amount of wages in arrears, already constitutes a serious collective labor dispute. From past cases, situations where a company shuts down all employees citing internal audit are highly likely related to asset transfer and debt evasion.
"The company had employees sign contracts with and receive salaries from multiple companies in rotation, while daily work like DingTalk clock-ins and work arrangements were all under the same actual operating entity. This practice is legally known as mixed employment," Huang Yueling explained. According to Article 3 of the Supreme People's Court's "Interpretation (II) on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases": If a worker is employed alternately or simultaneously by multiple units with affiliated relationships, and no written labor contract is concluded or the contract subjects are confused, the court will determine the labor relationship based on factors such as working hours, content, and remuneration payment. The worker may request these affiliated units to jointly bear responsibilities such as paying labor remuneration and benefits. This means employees can still demand the actual employing company and all affiliated companies that signed contracts or paid wages bear joint and several liability for compensation.
For specific rights protection, Huang Yueling advises paying attention to evidence collection. "DingTalk clock-in records alone are not enough; an evidence chain needs to be formed." He believes that while DingTalk records are core evidence, to prevent the company from deleting accounts or denying data from the backend, evidence preservation must be done immediately, such as instantly screen recording, taking screenshots (including personal info, attendance months, approval records, etc.). If still able to log in, web/App notarization through a notary office should be done as soon as possible. Simultaneously, quickly collect all signed labor contracts, bank statements showing payments from different companies (marked "salary"), and records of management instructions in work groups, all of which can prove the mixed employment fact.
Additionally, employees should collect evidence of wage arrears, preserve screenshots of the company's "internal audit company-wide shutdown" notice, and take photos. This can directly prove the company unilaterally stopped providing working conditions, not employee absenteeism.
Huang Yueling pointed out that if solely relying on the lengthy arbitration process, there is a risk of the company transferring assets. Therefore, a three-pronged strategy of "administrative complaint + criminal report + labor arbitration" can be chosen. Employees can quickly elect 3 to 5 representatives to directly file a complaint with the local labor security inspection brigade in Xi'an. During this process, consult the local Human Resources and Social Security Bureau to see if conditions are met to apply for government emergency wage arrears revolving funds (wage arrears security funds) to address urgent needs.
Secondly, employees can directly report to the public security authorities with relevant evidence to pursue criminal liability of the boss and relevant responsible persons. Finally, apply for arbitration with the labor dispute arbitration committee in the jurisdiction of the company's office location to confirm the labor relationship and recover unpaid wages.
"When applying, list the actual employing company, all companies that signed contracts, and affiliated companies that paid wages as respondents, demanding they bear joint and several payment liability. For rights claims, demand payment of拖欠 wages, double wage difference for unsigned written labor contracts (if applicable), and economic compensation for被迫解除 labor relations due to the company's failure to pay remuneration fully and timely."
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