Chinese Employees Forced to Crawl Round a Lake as Punishment for not Meeting Sales Target

A group of employees were forced by their boss to crawl around a wooden path which lined a lake as punishment for failing to meet their sales targets. The horrendous scene took place alongside the Ruyi Lake in Zhengzhou city, Henan province. Eyewitnesses told reporters nearly everyone’s clothes were worn out, while some had suffered bruises and scrapes and were bleeding as a result of the ordeal. The company even dispatched one member of staff as an overseer, ensuring that all employees finished a lap of the lake and thus completing their humiliation. 

The photos of the employees went viral after it was posted online on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo and resulted in outraged reactions, with many calling the punishment sheer torture and a reflection of the company’s disrespect for human rights.“How can this company ever get stronger with such kind of policy? For starters, the employees wouldn’t follow it with their whole hearts,” commented @Linuannuan94.
Others, meanwhile, said that they couldn’t really feel sorry for the employees because they weren’t standing up for themselves in the face of such an unfair policy. “The punishment is total humiliation. But I don’t understand these employees: Why crawl just because someone else told you to do so?” said @Xiaoyudiaoxiaomiao.