Horrible bosses! China firm confines worker to 'small dark room' without phone to get him to quit

The company tried to get out of paying the worker compensation by accusing him of violating company policy by watching nude pictures and browsing unrelated sites while at work.

A Chinese firm took the extreme step of confining an employee to a 'small dark room' for four days without power, phone, or computer, in an effort to make him quit, South China Morning Post reported.

The incident came to light when the compaby challeneged a court ruling in the case when the court decided that the company's subsidiary should pay the employee $52,000 to compensate for their actions.

The company responded saying "We believe that there are many problems with the labour laws which severely hinder economic development and are arbitrarily enforced by judges who distort the facts," the publication reported.

The issue reportedly began in December 2022 when the worker found he could not log into the company's computer system. He could not use his entry pass either. This took place after drawn-out negotiations over the resignation.

The company told him he was needed to take part in 'training' and then took him to a room on a different floor than the one his usual workstation would be at. This room was reportedly completely dark as no power supply was there.

The publication added that the room didn't have computers and no colleagues were present. Only a table and chair was present there.

The employee was allowed to leave the room 'freely' over the four days and could go home after 'work' but he was not given any tasks and his mobile phone was taken away as well.

On the fifth day, his wife reported the company's treatment of her husband to the police and then an official notice of him getting laid off was issued.

The company, meanwhile, to avoid paying compensation, insisted that the lay-off was because the employee had violated company policies. The company accused him of seeing nude pictures and browsing unrelated sites during work hours.

The employee, a game art editor, argued that the pictures he had seen were for work reasons. The court agreed with him.

This company was in the news in 2020 too when the CEO issued a statement that the company had had a significant profit growth and had gone on to say that employees were allowed to 'voluntarily apply' for a 10 per cent reduction in monthly salary.

The publication reported that several employees told Hongxing News that this 'voluntary pay cut' was really a test of loyalty and obedience.