Recently, a WeChat group chat conversation has caused a stir on China's internet. From Weibo to Douyin, from Kuaishou to Bilibili, and even on Toutiao, almost everyone is talking about the chat records of this WeChat group. The chat records are quite lengthy, spanning several pages, and the content is about an employee named Chen Zhilong. Before the Qingming Festival, his boss asked them to work overtime, and he took off his Kong Yiji-style robe and directly confronted his boss. This action received cheers from his colleagues in the WeChat group. These chat records have resonated greatly with the public, as many people are experiencing the "996" work culture, where they work from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. This also exposes the reality of many Chinese companies violating labour laws and forcing employees to work overtime.
After such an incident is exposed, the relevant departments should investigate which organization is involved, who is breaking the law, and how to handle it. However, surprisingly, the situation has become mysterious and unclear. This is because, in this WeChat group, the name of the project team is a subsidiary of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). But on April 5th, CETC issued a statement saying that the unit mentioned in the chat record is not a subsidiary of CETC, and the employee mentioned is not an employee of CETC. In other words, this has nothing to do with CETC. Here, I would like to add some information about CETC. It was initially part of the Ministry of Electronics Industry and later transformed into an enterprise mainly serving the Chinese military. For example, most of China's radar design and manufacturing is handled by departments under CETC. It is a first-class confidential unit.
Subsequently, the Sichuan Provincial Federation of Trade Unions also stated in an interview that this incident did not happen in Chengdu. This is because the WeChat group mentioned a project team in Chengdu, but he said it happened somewhere else and didn't happen this year. In any case, whether it is CETC or the Sichuan Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, they keep their distance from this matter, which is very strange. It is still being determined where the incident occurred, and it is even faint if it happened. Some people are sceptical and believe this might be a staged publicity stunt or a hoax.
However, regardless of whether the incident is actual or not, the issue of excessive overtime and the "996" work culture is a real problem in China. It has been reported that many Chinese companies require their employees to work long hours, and some even force them to work overtime without pay. According to China's labour law, the standard working hours are no more than eight hours a day and 44 hours a week. Any overtime work should be paid according to a certain percentage of the employee's hourly wage. However, many companies ignore these regulations and force their employees to work overtime without proper compensation, which seriously violates their rights.
The issue of overtime is not limited to China. It is a global problem that affects many countries. In Japan, for example, the pain of excessive overtime is so severe that there is a term for it, "karoshi," which means death from overwork. In South Korea, the government has recently introduced a law that limits the maximum number of working hours per week to 52 hours to reduce the incidence of overwork-related health problems.
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