On June 25, 2011, the career of an ordinary worker at Foxconn's Guanlan plant in Shenzhen came to an abrupt end. 23-year-old Chen Long suddenly fainted on this day and unfortunately passed away.
Although the family had doubts about the cause of his death, doctors said he died of chronic fatigue for a long time. As a Fortune 500 high-tech electronics company, Foxconn has numerous technology industrial parks across China, including the factory where Chen Long works.
Chen Long's sudden death has once again raised concerns about the health of low-level employees.
On June 24, 2011, Chen Long's day began at 7 a.m. and ended at 7 p.m. At night, he went to an Internet café with his girlfriend to surf the Internet, and did not return home to rest until 11 o'clock in the evening.
According to the calendar, it was a Friday. However, the development of events is heart-wrenching. Chen Long felt hot in the afternoon, but when he went to the bathroom to take a shower, he suddenly fell to the ground unconscious, and died after rescue efforts failed.
After a forensic examination, Chen Long died of sudden death. His family came to Shenzhen to deal with the aftermath and hoped that the company could give a reasonable explanation. Chen's family believes that Chen Long died of chronic fatigue.
However, the factory's handling of the incident was chilling. After the sudden death of an employee, the attitude of the factory was very indifferent. After the Chen family communicated with Foxconn, Foxconn only sent two staff members to negotiate the matter, but they were not only late, but also said something like this after entering the door: "There are so many people here." ”
After the Chen family came to Shenzhen, Foxconn only provided 4 houses and 900 yuan for living expenses, and nothing else was indicated. The Chen family negotiated with Foxconn to no avail, so they asked the local ** for help.
The staff of the labor insurance, social security and other departments of Guanlan Town also participated in the handling of the incident. Chen Long's parents filed a request for compensation for workers' compensation, but the local social security worker told them: "You need to provide evidence." ”
This incident is deeply sad and regrettable, and it also reminds us to pay attention to the work pressure and physical health of our employees. Enterprises should pay more attention to the rights and health of employees, and create a better working environment and living conditions for employees.
In the process of finding the truth, Chen Long's family hoped that the Foxconn factory could provide him with work records, salary slips, social security and other records during his part-time job, but Foxconn refused on the grounds of company confidentiality.
In this regard, the Chen family accused Foxconn of being cold-blooded and filed a claim of 200,000 yuan, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement. In the end, the Chen family hung a banner at the entrance of the Foxconn factory, hoping to get a fair explanation.
According to Article 36 of Chapter 4 of the Labor Law of the People's Republic of China, the daily working hours of an employee shall not exceed eight hours, and the average weekly working hours shall not exceed 44 hours.
Article 41, on the other hand, stipulates that if it is necessary to extend working hours, it must be agreed upon after consultation with the trade union and the workers, and shall not exceed one hour per day and thirty-six hours per month.
If the factory company violates this regulation and extends the working hours of the worker, the labor administrative department will give a warning, order the worker to make corrections, and may impose a fine. If Chen Long worked more than 66 hours of overtime in a row in the 25 days prior to his sudden death, then the factory company is suspected of violating the law.
Chen Long's sudden death has attracted widespread attention from society, especially Foxconn, a large enterprise. Overtime may seem to be the norm in productive businesses, but such a norm should not violate labor laws.
There seem to be two extremes in workers' attitudes towards overtime. On the one hand, they want to have enough rest time to spend with their families and relax; On the other hand, they hope to increase their income and improve their family situation by working overtime.
Most of Foxconn's front-line employees are young people, who hope that "they can go home and buy a house after working overtime to earn enough money", believing that overtime is to work harder and get more money, and overtime on holidays is even more popular.
Although there are regulations, overtime pay is 15 times, 2 times, 3 times, but many people are still rushing to work overtime, and even 80% to 90% of employees say that they like to work overtime, hoping to make more money and can return to their hometowns to buy houses in the future.
However, some small electronics factories work even harder overtime and have been called "blood factories". Most assembly line workers believe that long hours of boring work have a great impact not only on the body, but also on the spirit.
Whether Chen Long's death was considered a work-related injury, the social security staff said that the state stipulated the working time and place and the death within 48 hours before it was considered a work-related injury, and the death from overwork did not belong to their department's determination, and the forensic doctor could not identify it.
Although some employees want to work part-time to earn money, they are also dissatisfied with the time and frequency of overtime. The corporate overtime culture is prevalent, and some employees are also in a dilemma. Chen's family and relatives could not provide evidence of his death, and Foxconn refused to provide employees' employment records, pay stubs, and social security records.
A staff member surnamed Peng, a Foxconn worker, said that the confidential records of the company's employees, including payslips and social security, should not be leaked casually. Regarding whether the employee Chen Long worked overtime before his death, he said that there were other circumstances 24 hours before Chen Long's death, and the company was inconvenient to disclose.
Overwork death refers to the sudden occurrence of myocardial infarction, cerebral hemorrhage and other diseases under the condition of high work pressure and heavy tasks, which mostly occur in groups aged 30-50.
Death from overwork does not belong to the category of clinical medicine, but to the category of social medicine, which is difficult to prove by medical means. It is not easy to be detected in the early stage of overwork death, and it is difficult to be characterized as a work-related injury and obtain compensation.
Although Foxconn has strengthened the physical examination system for employees, the social phenomenon of death from overwork is still worthy of attention. In addition to employees paying attention to their own health, companies should also give more care to employees.
The indifference of the person in charge of the enterprise when dealing with the problem is chilling. The quality of an enterprise is not only reflected in a person, but also in the corporate culture behind them.
The behavior and attitude of the enterprise directly affect the happiness and satisfaction of employees, and how many enterprises that are proud of the supremacy of interests really care and care for their employees?
Foxconn, while quick to respond to criticism in dealing with similar incidents, denied a causal link between overtime and employee overwork deaths. Foxconn emphasized the importance of enforcing work order and guaranteeing workers' rest time, but in reality, excessive overtime and too low basic salary are important reasons why employees are forced to work overtime for a long time.
Nowadays, "death from overwork" has become a common problem, affecting various industries. From a socio-medical perspective, a growing body of research has shown that the factors influencing human disease are interrelated, not only structural defects at the molecular biological level, but also abnormalities in physiological and biochemical indicators that respond to organ function, as well as disorders in patients' families and interpersonal relationships.
The occurrence of diseases is often closely related to the social environment, and we must pay close attention to this. At the national level, the establishment and improvement of relevant laws and regulations, especially the protection of employees' rights and labor issues, is the last line of defense to protect the basic rights and interests of citizens and prevent the occurrence of such incidents.
Enterprises should also ensure the actual needs and level of employees, and pay attention to their spiritual needs. At the individual level, we should also attach great importance to physical health and do what we can to succeed and ensure good health.
From a social point of view, all sectors of society, civil society and trade unions should uphold an impartial stance and conduct research on workers' lives to truly understand their actual needs, so as to avoid the recurrence of the tragedy like Chen Long.