996 working, ICU waiting.
A "996" work schedule refers to an unofficial work schedule (9 am - 9 pm, 6 days a week) that has been gaining more popularity. Serving a company that encourages the "996" work schedule usually means working for at least 60 hours a week.
Quoted from Labour Law of the People's Republic of China:
Article 36:
The State shall practice 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 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.
Article 41:
The employing unit may extend working hours as necessitated by its production or business operation after consultation with the trade union and labourers, but the extended working hour per day shall generally not exceed one hour; if such extension is needed for special reasons, under the condition that the health of labourers is guaranteed, the extended hours shall not exceed three hours per day. However, the total extension in a month shall not exceed thirty-six hours.
Article 43:
The employing unit shall not extend working hours of labourers in violation of the provisions of this Law.
Article 90:
Where the employing unit, in violation of the stipulations of this Law, extends the working hours of labourers, the administrative department of labour shall give it a warning, order it to make corrections, and may impose a fine thereon.
Article 91:
Where the employing unit commits any of the following acts infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of labourers, the administrative department of labour shall order it to pay labourers remuneration of wages or to make up for economic losses, and may also order it to pay compensation:
……
(2) To refuse to pay labourers remuneration of wages for the extended working hours;
……
In early September 2016, it was said that 58.com (58同城, a classified advertisements company) introduced the "996" work schedule, without paying employees overtime who worked on weekends. The company later claimed that the schedule was only practiced to manage extra workflow during peak season - September and October, and that the schedule was not compulsory.
In early 2019, Youzan (有赞, a Hangzhou-based E-commerce company) announced the company would adopt "996" work schedule in the annual convention. Bai Ya, the CEO of Youzan, responded: "This will definitely be a right decision when we look back in a few years."
In mid-March 2019, it was reported that JD.com (京东, a major E-commerce company) started adopting "996" or "995" work schedules in some departments. The PR posted that (Our culture is) to devote ourselves wholeheartedly (to achieve the business objectives) via Maimai (脉脉, a Chinese real-name business social network platform).
Gaining more publicity only recently, this work schedule, however, has long been a known "secret" practiced in a lot of companies in China.
According to the Labour Law, employees who follow the "996" work schedule deserve to be paid 2.275 times of their base salary. Unfortunately, people who work under "996" rarely receive overtime pay.
If you continue to tolerate the "996" work schedule, you will risk your own health and might need to stay in an Intensive Care Unit someday. (6 rhymes with U in Mandarin)
Developers' lives matter.