Some employees in China face having their pay docked if they fail to hit exercise targets, with the country now having more obese people than the US.
According to The Times, people at one workplace in Guangzhou must take at least 180,000 steps a month (about 100km) using smartphone apps as step counters. For every 1,000 steps they fall short, 10 yuan (US$1.28) is deducted from their salaries.
In Hangzhou, a health-related business is cutting bonuses for supervisors if members of their team fail to take 7,000 steps per day. The three departments with the highest averages are paid more.
A technology company in Chongqing has also set a daily goal for staff to take 10,000 steps. Those who fall short are asked to do push-ups as a punishment. Supporters of the scheme say that workers who used to play computer games during their lunch break are now teaming up to go speed-walking or jogging.
But one employee in Guangzhou complained to local media that the target was unreasonable given employees’ heavy workload. “Walking 6,000 steps a day may not sound a lot, but it’s quite a nuisance,” said the man, identified as Little C. “There is no bonus for extra steps, so everyone is walking so as not to see wages reduced.”
He also claimed that some colleagues were shaking their mobile phones as a means of tricking the step-counters.
The government-run newspaper China Youth Daily took the side of the disgruntled employees, however, arguing that fitness initiatives lowered workplace morale when tied to pay.
In 2014, 43.2 million Chinese men and 46.4 million women out of a population of one billion were considered obese, compared with 41.7 million men and 46.1 million women in the US. The problem is most acute among young males from well-educated, high-income urban families.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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Some employees in China face having their pay docked if they fail to hit exercise targets, with the country now having more obese people than the US.
According to The Times, people at one workplace in Guangzhou must take at least 180,000 steps a month (about 100km) using smartphone apps as step counters. For every 1,000 steps they fall short, 10 yuan (US$1.28) is deducted from their salaries.
In Hangzhou, a health-related business is cutting bonuses for supervisors if members of their team fail to take 7,000 steps per day. The three departments with the highest averages are paid more.
A technology company in Chongqing has also set a daily goal for staff to take 10,000 steps. Those who fall short are asked to do push-ups as a punishment. Supporters of the scheme say that workers who used to play computer games during their lunch break are now teaming up to go speed-walking or jogging.
But one employee in Guangzhou complained to local media that the target was unreasonable given employees’ heavy workload. “Walking 6,000 steps a day may not sound a lot, but it’s quite a nuisance,” said the man, identified as Little C. “There is no bonus for extra steps, so everyone is walking so as not to see wages reduced.”
He also claimed that some colleagues were shaking their mobile phones as a means of tricking the step-counters.
The government-run newspaper China Youth Daily took the side of the disgruntled employees, however, arguing that fitness initiatives lowered workplace morale when tied to pay.
In 2014, 43.2 million Chinese men and 46.4 million women out of a population of one billion were considered obese, compared with 41.7 million men and 46.1 million women in the US. The problem is most acute among young males from well-educated, high-income urban families.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
OTHER STORIES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
How to keep fit and healthy on the road
