Chinese companies object to 'rat race', stop employees working overtime

Several Chinese internet and manufacturing companies are urging their employees to not work overtime and to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Well-known companies including Haier, Midea, DJI and others have begun to insist that their employees leave work on time and do not come to work on weekends. 

Various strategies are reportedly being adopted to ensure compliance, such as canteens not providing meals on Saturdays, HR managers personally making rounds to ask employees to leave at end-of-day, and even turning off the lights.

The Cailian Press reported that Midea has enforced regulations to ensure that team leaders do not hold meetings outside formal work hours and stop unproductive overtime work. DJI has begun to require that its employees stop work and leave by 9 pm. 

Additionally, Haier issued a notice that all departments should implement a mandatory two-day weekend and that employees will not be allowed to come in to work on Saturdays. Haier also mandated that if overtime work is required under special circumstances, it must be approved one week in advance, and that overtime work on working days shall not exceed 3 hours per day.

Xu Fenghui, deputy director of the Department of Labor Economics at the Capital University of Economics and Business, told Cailian Press that such practices by enterprises show that China is more respectful of talent and labor during the process of development, and pays more attention to the protection of workers' rights and interests. He added that this promotes fair employment and social justice.

Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told WallstreetCN that this phenomenon not only reflects the enterprises' concern and respect for the rights, interests and well-being of employees, but also reflects their positive response and initiative in the face of market competition and policy pressure.

(Cover via VCG)