全国政协委员指出，当前我国的996问题处于企业失控、监管失序、工会失灵的状态，要改变996工作文化，不是那么简单的事。
Members of China's top political advisory body have proposed reinforced and effective supervision to stop companies overworking their employees.
Since 2019, the 996 work culture－which means working from 9 am to 9 pm six days a week, a schedule widely used at tech companies－has sparked public debate, with some industry insiders calling it a "blessing".
The issue of overworking employees is getting worse, said Li Guohua, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, pointing out that the absence of official supervision and protection by labor unions has led to the current situation.
"Some companies require employees to work more than 380 hours a month－even more than 996, under which 300 working hours a month are required," he said. "More hectic working schedules are prevailing in areas including short-video sharing, online education, ride-hailing and e-commerce."
Wang Meihua, also a CPPCC National Committee member and deputy chief engineer at Shanghai Construction Group, said that official work hours have also been blurred at companies that rely on calls or instant messaging services for their business. For such enterprises, some employees are required to remain on standby 24 hours a day.
"Missing any calls or not replying to instant messages immediately will be regarded as a breach of duty "that has led some to lose their jobs, Wang said.
Li urged authorities to pay more attention to the problem while enhancing regulations to protect workers' well-being.
The problem is complex.
On the one hand, authorities have made some headway. In November 2019, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released a labor contract guideline stating that work time is not allowed to exceed eight hours a day or 40 hours a week.
Work time can be stretched after negotiations, but overtime should not exceed one hour a day in general or three hours a day in special circumstances. Further, no more than 36 working hours can be added over a one-month period, according to the guideline.
"The nation's high-quality development is an endurance race, driven by the labor force's physical and psychological health," said Lyu Guoquan, also a member of the CPPCC National Committee.
"Valuing people and protecting their health is the right way to generate fortunes."