It needs to be changed. It's too vague. Specifically Article 39 is problematic, exemptions are needed but exemptions need to be tightened and far more specific.
Others should reconsider jumping to conclusions on a topic they've literally never looked into. There is a significant effort going into changing this but legislation is slow as it occurs bottom-up in China instead of top-down. The process begins locally with polling, goes through a shit load of committee stages and rewrites at every level of the hierarchy, and it is basically a rubber-stamping exercise by the time it gets to the final legislator. A big part of the provess is that you NEED mass-support to get things to happen, if you don't have mass-support (indicated in polling stages) they don't happen, hence why the issue has remained for so long.
In the tech companies though this isn't a matter of the companies but more something cultural - the workers force it on each other. There is a culture of overwork and people that aren't seen to be working obsessively like this end up socially harmed by their coworkers, so everyone does it despite slacking off for hours of the day as a result and not being more productive.
Article 36 The State shall practise a working hour system wherein labourers shall work for no more than eight hours a day and no more than 44 hours a week on the average.
Article 37 In case of labourers working on the basis of piecework, the employing unit shall rationally fix quotas of work and standards of piecework remuneration in accordance with the working hour system stipulated in Article 36 of this Law.
Article 38 The employing unit shall guarantee that its staff and workers have at least one day off in a week.
Article 39 Where an enterprise can not follow the stipulations in Article 36 and Article 38 of this Law due to the special nature of its production, it may, with the approval of the administrative department of labour, adopt other rules on working hours and rest.
In the tech companies though this isn’t a matter of the companies but more something cultural - the workers force it on each other. There is a culture of overwork and people that aren’t seen to be working obsessively like this end up socially harmed by their coworkers, so everyone does it despite slacking off for hours of the day as a result and not being more productive.
Yeah, this sort of 'competition' is present in so many facets of modern life, especially in Asia. It's encouraged by the bosses, the social norms, peer pressure etc. Even in high schools, kids have to study for 12-14 hours a day if they want to pass the entrance exams and get into a good college.
Article 39 Where an enterprise can not follow the stipulations in Article 36 and Article 38 of this Law due to the special nature of its production, it may, with the approval of the administrative department of labour, adopt other rules on working hours and rest.
Yeah, this is a very vague statement. Is there any criteria for what counts as "special nature" or how tech companies are able to spin their products as being "special"? What did they say to the "administrative department of labour" to allow them such different rules.
It needs to be changed. It's too vague. Specifically Article 39 is problematic, exemptions are needed but exemptions need to be tightened and far more specific.
Others should reconsider jumping to conclusions on a topic they've literally never looked into. There is a significant effort going into changing this but legislation is slow as it occurs bottom-up in China instead of top-down. The process begins locally with polling, goes through a shit load of committee stages and rewrites at every level of the hierarchy, and it is basically a rubber-stamping exercise by the time it gets to the final legislator. A big part of the provess is that you NEED mass-support to get things to happen, if you don't have mass-support (indicated in polling stages) they don't happen, hence why the issue has remained for so long.
In the tech companies though this isn't a matter of the companies but more something cultural - the workers force it on each other. There is a culture of overwork and people that aren't seen to be working obsessively like this end up socially harmed by their coworkers, so everyone does it despite slacking off for hours of the day as a result and not being more productive.
Relevant legislation from here :
Thanks for the detailed response.
Yeah, this sort of 'competition' is present in so many facets of modern life, especially in Asia. It's encouraged by the bosses, the social norms, peer pressure etc. Even in high schools, kids have to study for 12-14 hours a day if they want to pass the entrance exams and get into a good college.
Yeah, this is a very vague statement. Is there any criteria for what counts as "special nature" or how tech companies are able to spin their products as being "special"? What did they say to the "administrative department of labour" to allow them such different rules.