A court in Zhejiang province has found the employer partly responsible for the death of 30-year-old A’bao, who succumbed to organ failure after working continuously for 104 days. The case highlights China’s demanding work culture, with A’bao’s death occurring shortly after his sole day off.
According to a report by Guangzhou Daily, A’bao died because of multiple organ failure due to pneumococcal infection; it is linked with immune deficiency. The court judged that the company was 20% responsible, and it sparked outrage and debates on labor conditions in China.
A’bao, from Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province, was a painter whose labor contract specified that he would have to work from February of every year until January of the next without a break. He rested only once on April 6 for which, feeling no improvement, he continued to work through his declining health. Admitted to the hospital on May 25, he died of pulmonary infection and acute respiratory failure on June 1.
Social security officials initially ruled his death wasn’t work-related since there was too big of a gap from the time he fell ill until he died. However, A’bao’s family sued for negligence. The company countered that the workload was reasonable and any overtime was on a volunteer basis, blaming preexisting health issues and poor medical care as the true cause of death.
Labour laws set limits on work hours per day and week, which were grossly exceeded with the schedule imposed on him. It ruled that the practice of the company led to A’bao’s health decline and asked them to compensate 400,000 yuan – about US$ 56,000 – for the losses, including 10,000 yuan for mental damage. The company has appealed, but the Zhoushan Intermediate People’s Court upheld the judgement in August.
Public outrage has centred on the low amount of compensation and an appeal by the company. Comments on social media demonstrate outrage: “At 30, he lost his life, and his family was shattered. Only 400000 yuan was awarded by the court “. What’s even more outrageous is that the company appealed the judgment without any sympathy or basic humanity.” Another user added, “Working like this is truly exchanging one’s life for money.” Concerns were raised regarding the low penalties for violations of labor law and weak implementation: “The cost of violating the law is too low for companies, it seems the labor law only exists to restrain workers.”
A’bao’s case is also part of a disturbing trend of worker exploitation in China, which has some similarity to Zhu Bin’s 2019 death after working a whole month without time off, putting in 130 overtime hours. The court-issued 30% liability against his employer and ordered compensation of 360,000 yuan (US$50,000) to Zhu’s family. These cases have highlighted ongoing problems in labour protection and law enforcement in China.