Underperforming Employees in China Were Made to Eat Live Worms

In the age of fast-moving industries and cut-throat competition, the workplace can be a battlefield. But for some employees in China, a day at work may feel more like an episode of Fear Factor.

A video shared recently by The Paper revealed the hidden horrors of a decoration company in Bijie City, Guizhou Province. Apparently, employees who didn’t meet their sales target had to choose between forking out 500 yuan ($70) to buy breakfast for everyone, and eating a live earthworm or mudfish. Most of the employees chose the latter, The Paper reported.

In the video, an employee was seen holding a wriggling mudfish on a tissue paper. “This probably has parasites in it, right?” asked one employee. To which his colleague replied, “I’m sure it does.”

Then, cut to footage of various employees downing their punishment of choice.

Netizens were dismayed at these over-the-top punishments.

“This is abuse. It’s a crime,” said one netizen.

“This is so twisted. Such companies should just shut down,” commented another.

The company’s manager said that none of the employees thought the penalties were unreasonable. On June 2, the local police announced that two company personnel would be detained for five days for what they did, China News Service reported.

This extreme work punishment isn’t an isolated incident among Chinese companies. Over the years, there have been several reports of employees being made to carry out hair-raising penalties.

In November 2018, a home renovation company in Zunyi city, Guizhou Province, was found forcing its employees to drink toilet water and eat worms. Some underachieving employees were even whipped with a belt.

When the horrifying details of this company’s controversial policy came to light, three people were arrested under the charge of “public humiliation,” the local police said in a statement on Weibo.

A foot reflexology business in the same city forced underachieving employees to eat raw bitter gourd and crawl 100 metres on the ground in public.

In 2016, Huashang Daily reported that a furniture company in Hanzhong city, Shaanxi province, forced employees to down a shot of baijiu containing a squirming maggot, under the curious eyes of passersby.