My Hong Kong | Frequent bathroom breaks seen as a sign of laziness in China – but that’s not why a company fined shift workers for using toilet more than once
- A firm in China faced backlash after it fined workers for a second toilet break in an eight-hour shift. Frequent toilet use makes you a shirker, Chinese say
- That’s not all that Chinese believe about toilets. Keep the bathrom door open and you could lose your fortune, as feng shui equates water with wealth
I cracked up laughing when I came across a piece of news about a company in Dongguan, southern China, that fined its workers 20 yuan (US$3) each for taking two toilet breaks during their eight-hour shift.
My reaction wasn’t because I was unsympathetic. In fact, I was amazed and rather shocked that there are still such unreasonable employers around when we are supposed to be moving towards a more just and equitable society.
This company bans staff from taking repeated toilet breaks and also requires them to register their absence before they are allowed to answer the call of nature.
It claims that the loo rule is to prevent employees being distracted at work, although I have never thought that going to the toilet could be such a worrying distraction. Conversely, I think it would be rather difficult for anyone to concentrate on their work while trying to hold it in.
But the company claimed that many staff have been taking long toilet breaks to do other things like smoke, chat or play on their phones. Therefore, the company saw it as grounds to enforce a single bathroom break during an eight-hour shift.
