Can a Chinese city improve country’s work-life balance? Shenzhen to enforce paid leave for workers
- Southern tech hub, home to many start-ups, wants to improve residents’ mental and physical health. Making sure employers give them time off is part of it
- In many Chinese workplaces, overtime is so common that ‘996’ – slang for the culture of working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week – has become mainstream
A city in China is doing its bit to change the country’s work culture by obliging companies to let staff take their mandated days off. But Zoey Zou, a designer based in that city – tech hub Shenzhen – thinks the new rule is useless, especially for companies whose work is project-based.
She said if she took all the time off she was supposed to take, she would have to work overtime to get through the accumulated work.
“If you don’t finish your project on hand, your performance review will suffer, along with your salary,” she told the Post. “The company also needs to take on more projects to make money to survive, so it will keep accepting clients and projects, and the workers will keep working overtime.”
Taking a day off in China can often be tricky. Peer pressure from colleagues and bosses often means workers stretch themselves to breaking point, spending long hours in overtime or dragging themselves to work when they don’t feel well.
The Shenzhen authorities’ action is part of a larger plan to improve the southern megacity’s living standards by fighting air pollution, improving food safety, and ensuring mental and physical health. The new law will come into effect at the start of 2021.