A female employee of Chinese e-commerce group Poundland suddenly collapsed in the early hours of last year on her way from work and died a few hours after being taken to the hospital untreated. The news reignited strong concerns on Chinese social media about the working hours and health of employees at Internet companies, generating 224 million views and 23,400 comments on Sina Weibo.
Pindo confirmed that a female employee suddenly fainted from abdominal pain on her way home from work with a colleague around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 29. She later died in the hospital, the company said in a statement.
In compliance with her parents’ wishes, the departed employee was cremated on the 3rd without an announcement to the public, Pindo said in a statement. The cause of her death was not disclosed.
The deceased was born in 1998 and was 22 years old, according to a statement from the company. Internet social media users said her name was Zhang Ruofei. Caixin.com reported that the deceased was an employee of the “Duoduo buy vegetables” business under Poundland in the Xinjiang region. The “Duoduo buy vegetables” is a community group buying platform developed by Poundland in 2020. The head of each community is set up as a key link between the shopping platform and consumers.
The first financial and other media reports, Duoduo buy vegetables main “next day” delivery, business scope covers Wuhan, Nanchang and many other second and third-tier cities. In the business model, Poundland has adopted its usual approach, not hesitating to burn money for subsidies. In the burning money, the business must be extended by the staff to achieve more profit, to achieve expansion purposes. The subsidy for each head of Doduo buy food is 130 yuan. Dodo Buy’s community group buying has now expanded to at least 200 cities.
Some netizens revealed in the comment section of the report that Dodo Buy’s employees work more than 12 hours a day, all year round. Behind the long hours of overtime, the health of employees is an unavoidable issue.
Pindo did not answer media inquiries regarding the netizens’ questions about the working hours and labor treatment of Duo Buy employees.
Article 36 of China’s labor law stipulates that the state implements a working hours system in which workers’ daily working hours do not exceed eight hours and their average weekly working hours do not exceed forty-four hours. Article 38 stipulates that employers shall ensure that workers have at least one day off per week.
The so-called “996” working hours, which are commonly practiced in China’s technology industry, means that employees start work at 9 a.m. and finish at 9 p.m., working six days a week. Despite criticism of the “996” culture, long hours are still the norm for employees at Internet companies.
The Beijing Youth Daily reported Monday (Jan. 4) that the Shanghai Labor Protection Department, where Pindo is headquartered, is investigating the company’s working hours and employment contracts.
Founded in September 2015 and headquartered in Shanghai, Poundland was listed on the Nasdaq in July 2018, just three years after its founding. Pindo is the third largest e-commerce platform in China after Alibaba (Alibaba) and Jingdong (JD.com).
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