Health and wealth: Chinese company makes employees run 50km a month to earn bonus
Instead of a year-end performance bonus, a boss in China came up with a new rewards system to encourage his employees to keep fit.
Lin Zhiyong, the owner of Dongpo Paper company in Guangdong province, recently introduced a new monthly bonus system that rewards employees based on how much they exercise, reported the South China Morning Post.
The new policy rewards employees with a full month's bonus if they run 50km in a month, Guangzhou daily reported on Dec 8.
Employees who run 40km a month will receive a 60 per cent of their monthly salary as a bonus, and those who clock in 30km a month will receive 30 per cent.
The best reward? An additional 30 per cent bonus to those who run 100km a month.
The calculation of mileage also includes other exercises such as mountain hiking and speed walking.
The distance covered by each employee is tracked via an app on their phones.
Lin, an avid mountain-climber himself, shared that for the last three years, he has been encouraging his employees to take up sports and fitness activities.
“A company can last long when its employees are healthy," he explained.
The new bonus scheme is "killing two birds with one stone as we can get both health and money," said one employee.
The paper company owner told Chinese media that all of his employees have qualified for a full month's bonus thus far.
In November, the company's business manager, Zhou Jian, was ranked first after clocking in 89 kilometres, Chinese media reported.
Zhou shared that he used to have high blood sugar five years ago, but regular exercise has helped him keep his blood sugar levels in check.
As Lin's policy sparked heated discussions online, some users pointed out that the policy has its drawbacks.
"The intention of the company's policy is good but it should take into consideration any existing conditions or health issues among its employees," a netizen commented.
"I have knee problems, I can't run," said another.
A third netizen commented: "The company should add an extra bonus to the employees who do exercise, instead of using the existing bonus as a bargaining chip."
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ashwini.balan@asiaone.com
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