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Slim chance of redress for overworked girl
By Jia Feishang |
April 23, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
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THE death of a 25-year-old entry-level auditor who volunteered for staggeringly long hours of overtime has caused an uproar and prompted demands for work laws with teeth to prevent foreign employers from "exploiting" Chinese white-collar workers.
Many people in media and online blamed the death of Pan Jie on April 10 on exhaustion; the specific cause was acute cerebral meningitis; a compromised acute system could be a contributor. But legal recourse is not easy in China, though there are lawsuits in Japan over cases of karoshi, or death of salarymen by overwork.
Whether working overtime is voluntary of not, it is difficult for employees, in this case young professionals, to wield the law to protect their own rights by limiting work hours. China's Labor Law stipulates that overtime could not exceed 36 hours a month, but Pan, an entry-level PwC employee, was reported to work more than 100 extra hours a week.
These long hours are not technically against the law because the company says it does not request employees to work overtime. PwC employees are compensated both in pay and in extra time off during annual leave in slack accounting periods.
Shanghai lawyer Wu Dong said the current labor law contains loopholes, since it only deals with compulsory overtime, not the voluntary overtime that most young workers put in to get ahead. "It has been a dilemma, mainly for white-collar workers and professionals," Wu said. "They have to work overtime to finish the assigned tasks due to a too-heavy workload, although their supervisor didn't ask them to put pint in extra hours."
But if they complain about long overtime, employers would respond by saying they are not competent, efficient and a committed member of the team. Under these circumstances, employees have no choice but to work overtime, considering companies' dominant positions, according to Wu.
Wu said that he personally considered this practice of by-the-book overtime, plus a lot of extra work, to be a violation of the Labor Law.
Wu said China's Labor Law is mainly intended to protect the interests of blue-collar workers or front-line employees who are most vulnerable. Well-educated white-collar professional have been generally overlooked by legislators who appear to believe they have the ability to safeguard their own rights and interests.
Even if Pan's death could be proved partly attributable to overwork, her family would find it difficult to seek compensation, since the basic law does not cover death by overwork.
If an overworked employee wanted to go to court, work injury might be the only problem he or she could claim.
"But certain evidence would be hard to collect," Wu added, suggesting that these problems cannot be resolved at this time. The lawyer said labor unions should play a role in protecting employees from overwork but added that some domestic offices of international companies, including PwC, do not have unions.
On the other hand, Hu Pengling, a manager with the China International Intellectech Corp, said employees should take more responsibilities for themselves. People now are facing fierce competition and feeling fatigued, and they should know about their body's limits and stop when it's necessary to take rest.
He said that lots of company promises to take better care of employees each year are usually empty talk. "They should really pay attention to whether their employees work in a healthy environment."
Many people in media and online blamed the death of Pan Jie on April 10 on exhaustion; the specific cause was acute cerebral meningitis; a compromised acute system could be a contributor. But legal recourse is not easy in China, though there are lawsuits in Japan over cases of karoshi, or death of salarymen by overwork.
Whether working overtime is voluntary of not, it is difficult for employees, in this case young professionals, to wield the law to protect their own rights by limiting work hours. China's Labor Law stipulates that overtime could not exceed 36 hours a month, but Pan, an entry-level PwC employee, was reported to work more than 100 extra hours a week.
These long hours are not technically against the law because the company says it does not request employees to work overtime. PwC employees are compensated both in pay and in extra time off during annual leave in slack accounting periods.
Shanghai lawyer Wu Dong said the current labor law contains loopholes, since it only deals with compulsory overtime, not the voluntary overtime that most young workers put in to get ahead. "It has been a dilemma, mainly for white-collar workers and professionals," Wu said. "They have to work overtime to finish the assigned tasks due to a too-heavy workload, although their supervisor didn't ask them to put pint in extra hours."
But if they complain about long overtime, employers would respond by saying they are not competent, efficient and a committed member of the team. Under these circumstances, employees have no choice but to work overtime, considering companies' dominant positions, according to Wu.
Wu said that he personally considered this practice of by-the-book overtime, plus a lot of extra work, to be a violation of the Labor Law.
Wu said China's Labor Law is mainly intended to protect the interests of blue-collar workers or front-line employees who are most vulnerable. Well-educated white-collar professional have been generally overlooked by legislators who appear to believe they have the ability to safeguard their own rights and interests.
Even if Pan's death could be proved partly attributable to overwork, her family would find it difficult to seek compensation, since the basic law does not cover death by overwork.
If an overworked employee wanted to go to court, work injury might be the only problem he or she could claim.
"But certain evidence would be hard to collect," Wu added, suggesting that these problems cannot be resolved at this time. The lawyer said labor unions should play a role in protecting employees from overwork but added that some domestic offices of international companies, including PwC, do not have unions.
On the other hand, Hu Pengling, a manager with the China International Intellectech Corp, said employees should take more responsibilities for themselves. People now are facing fierce competition and feeling fatigued, and they should know about their body's limits and stop when it's necessary to take rest.
He said that lots of company promises to take better care of employees each year are usually empty talk. "They should really pay attention to whether their employees work in a healthy environment."
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