A Chinese company has become a source of controversy online after it was found that it forces employees to eat raw eggs as punishment for not meeting expectations.
It started when a second-year university student surnamed Du went on social media to complain about his experience as an intern for a Zhengzhou technology company. He claimed that the said company had a strange rule where employees had to swallow raw eggs if they didn’t get enough orders in a set period or if they failed to meet management expectations. He stated that his internship was halted after he refused to obey the rule. He was coerced by the management to write down “personal reasons” as the reason for ending the internship to make the company free from any liability.
Du’s statements raged a spark online, and a video posted anonymously came forward that showed employees of the company seemingly nauseous while trying to swallow the raw eggs. People called the practice inhumane, warned against the dangers of eating raw eggs, and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
Surprisingly, representatives of the company didn’t seem to care about the backlash. They claimed that eating raw eggs is written in the employee handbook. When Du asked about the legality of the rule, the HR manager allegedly replied with a question of their own – “What law is preventing you from eating a raw egg?”
The labor inspection brigade of Jinshui District, Zhengzhou City is reportedly investigating this case, but legal experts claim that they will need more than Du’s testimony, as his unpaid internship doesn’t qualify as employment, so it is not covered by labor laws.
Du told reporters that the consumption of raw eggs by employees is used as a form of motivation by the company, which has also been confirmed by management.
“Employees are responsible for the results in the sales process, and rewards and punishments are also clearly defined in the process of implementation. Without them, day-to-day management is impossible,” the company’s management wrote in a statement.
Apparently, employees who did not want to consume raw eggs as punishment could opt to swallow a whole tube of mustard instead.
However, bizarre punishments like these are not new for China. A few years back, a company was reported to force workers to eat cockroaches for failing to meet sales goals, and then there was another company that made employees crawl through the street to atone for their unsatisfying results.