Three managers in China were jailed for doling out inhumane punishments to employees
Three managers at a home improvement firm in China have been jailed for cruelly punishing staffers when they failed to meet sales targets.
They were arrested after an employee claimed that staff were forced to drink urine, eat insects and flogged with belts for underperforming.
A video of one of the inhumane punishments went viral online on Chinese social media site Weibo and garnered almost 540,000 views.
In it, a topless man is seen standing in the centre of a room, being beaten by another with a belt while other stood around watching. There are also scenes showing people drinking cups of yellow liquid.
The video was later deleted but a local news website acquired screenshots of text messages showing managers threatening staff with various punishments.
One message read: “If the sales goal has not been met by the end of this month, the team leader will have to eat cockroaches for each failed sale.”
Other messages depicted punishments like drinking vinegar or toilet water, selling condoms and sanitary pads on the street, as well as having their head shaved.
According to the South China Morning Post, two of the managers have been jailed for 10 days, while a third will spend five days in jail.
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Netizens questioned why the employees did not quit their jobs, but one staff member told a social media site that they were owed two months’ pay. It was also alleged that the company had threatened to slash their severance package if they quit.