Company faces backlash for fining employees for looking in mirrors, eating at desks: ‘If I catch anyone…'
A Chinese firm is facing backlash after introducing a set of unusual workplace rules. According to a report in South China Morning Post, Man Wah Holdings Ltd, a major home furnishing firm-is under fire after one of its senior executives announced strict staff policies.
The company, Man Wah Holdings Ltd, is one of China's biggest furniture brands. Founded in 1992 and based in Guangdong province, it is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and employs around 27,000 people.
In May, a senior executive in the e-commerce department, surnamed Liu, issued a formal notice listing the new rules.
He said staff were often missing from their desks, were in the restroom, some looking in mirrors, and others making strange excuses.
The new rules include fines for looking in mirrors, eating snacks at desks, and failing to clock in several times a day. Staff are also required to work overtime.
Liu warned that any employee caught playing games during work hours would be fired immediately. He also introduced a fine system for eating snacks at work: managers would be fined 2,000 yuan, supervisors 1,000 yuan, and assistant managers 500 yuan.
He added that staff who are away from their desks without a valid reason more than three times would have their monthly salary reduced by 2,000 yuan. Those who fail to shut down their computers after work would be fined 100 yuan.
Another rule said if a worker is away for over 10 minutes, they must lock their computer and push in their chair, or face a fine.
Staff unwilling to comply with the new rules were told they should resign.
The incident triggered a strong reaction online, with many people criticising the company's harsh and unusual rules.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
European truckmakers stockpile to deal with Chinese rare-earths crunch
Gothenburg (Sweden): European truckmaker Volvo Group has been seeking alternative sources of rare earths and Daimler Trucks has been building inventories to deal with supply issues linked to Chinese export curbs, saying lessons had been learned from the chip crisis. The automotive industry currently fears that the supply of rare earths, which are needed for magnets, will be hurt by recent export regulations in China. Since April, exporters have had to apply for new licences, which are only slowly being approved. China dominates the market for the raw materials, which are used in various components from electric motors to window mechanisms in cars and trucks. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like New Container Houses Serbia (Prices May Surprise You) Container House Search Now Daimler Truck's CEO Karin Radstrom told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of a conference in Gothenburg that, as with the chip crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic, the group was boosting inventory levels rather than relying as heavily on a just-in-time strategy. "With everything that's going on in the world right now, this seems to be a good and necessary strategy," Radstrom said. Live Events She said the situation is currently a major focus for Daimler, which it is closely monitoring. "So far, we seem to be getting what we need," she added, saying there have been no production outages so far. Volvo Group's CTO Lars Stenqvist also noted "a little bit of turmoil" around rare-earth supply, and said in the long term, there had been "a clear move" to be less dependent on the minerals. Stenqvist, who also said the group's output had not been affected, emphasised like Radstrom that there had been many lessons learned from the chip crisis. "We learnt during the semiconductor crisis a few years ago that we maybe have had a history of working too much with the tier 1 suppliers," he said. "We are never hesitating to go down in the value chain, down to tier 2, 3, 4, 5 if necessary." "During that (chip) crisis we learned how to navigate down to the mines, and that is what we also need to do when it comes to rare earth metals and minerals," Stenqvist added.
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
China's Xi Jinping Signs Treaty To Elevate Ties With Central Asia
Beijing: China President Xi Jinping signed a treaty to elevate ties with Central Asian nations on Tuesday, as Beijing looks to further deepen cooperation on trade, energy and infrastructure with the resource-rich region. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Beijing has been stepping up efforts to boost economic links with Central Asian nations traditionally within Russia's sphere of influence, drawn by their strategic location and energy resources. At a regional summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Tuesday, Xi, lauding a milestone, signed a treaty of "permanent good-neighbourliness and friendly cooperation" with leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. The summit this week is the second such gathering, following the pomp-filled, inaugural gathering in northwest China in 2023. Both occasions have coincided with meetings of G7 leaders. "At present, the world is undergoing accelerating changes unseen in a century, entering a new period of turbulence and transformation," Xinhua quoted Xi as saying in a speech at the summit. "Trade wars and tariff wars produce no winners, and unilateralism, protectionism, and hegemonism are bound to harm both others and oneself," he said, in a thinly veiled swipe at the United States that had engaged in escalating tariffs with Beijing. "China is ready to work with Central Asian countries to safeguard international justice, oppose hegemonism and power politics," Xi said. He also pledged 1.5 billion yuan ($208.86 million) in grant assistance to the Central Asian countries this year to support their livelihood and development projects, and called for more cooperation in areas including trade, minerals and agriculture. Despite a trade truce with the US, Beijing has been keen to consolidate relations with its regional partners. China's two-way trade with the five Central Asian countries reached a record 286.42 billion yuan in the first five months this year, a 10.4% year-on-year increase, Xinhua reported citing the Chinese Customs. Turkmenistan, a major supplier of natural gas for China, is the only Central Asian nation with a trade surplus with China. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan's trade deficits with China run into the tens of billions. ENERGY, MINERAL COOPERATIONS In separate bilateral meetings with the regional leaders, Xi called for expanded cooperation in natural gas, minerals, international railway and law enforcement, according to summaries posted by the Chinese foreign ministry. In meetings with the Uzbek and Kyrgyz presidents on Tuesday, he urged progress on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, an overland route bypassing Russia The project has been discussed since the 1990s but gained new importance after the sanctions on Russia resulted in shippers between China and Europe avoiding sending goods via Russia. The five former Soviet republics offer China alternative routes to secure fuel and food in the event of disruptions elsewhere. In the long-term, the Central Asia route could potentially help cut freight transport times between China and Europe. In a separate meeting with Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, Xi said "both sides should expand the scale of natural gas cooperation, explore cooperation in non-resource fields, and optimize trade structure."
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Completely Impossible ..., say analysts on claims that Donald Trump's T1 smartphone will be made in America; add: Where are ...
The Trump Organization says that the entire device, which costs $499 is assembled in the US, but there is no information on when it will hit stores. Earlier this week, the Trump Organization, owned by the US President Donald Trump, announced the launch of the T1, a gold-colored smartphone priced at $499. The smartphone, which will run on Google's Android operating system, is being promoted as 'built in the United States.' However, industry experts have cast doubt on these claims, suggesting the phone is likely designed and manufactured by a Chinese company. The announcement comes as President Trump has intensified scrutiny on global smartphone supply chains, particularly targeting companies like Apple to move manufacturing to the U.S. amid threats of tariffs on imported devices. Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at International Data Corp. told CNBC that it is 'completely impossible' for the T1 to be fully designed and manufactured in the U.S. He and other analysts, including Blake Przesmicki of Counterpoint Research, believe the phone is likely produced by a Chinese original device manufacturer (ODM), which designs and builds products to the specifications of other companies. Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint, added that the U.S. lacks readily available local manufacturing capabilities for smartphones. Experts also warn that the US-based smartphone production would be a costly and time-intensive endeavor, likely increasing prices significantly. How and where to get the components The T1's specifications further highlight its reliance on global supply chains. The device features a 6.8-inch AMOLED display, likely sourced from South Korean companies Samsung or LG, or Chinese manufacturer BOE. Its 50-megapixel camera is expected to use image sensors from Japan's Sony, a dominant player in the market. The phone's processor is likely to come from Taiwan's MediaTek or Qualcomm, with manufacturing based in Taiwan. While US-based Micron could supply memory components, other suppliers like Samsung may also be involved. 'Even with local manufacturing, the T1 will rely on imported components,' Fieldhack noted, underscoring the global nature of smartphone production.
