A Chinese company is facing backlash after it sent staff members to photograph other employees using the toilet and later posting the compromising images on the wall of the restroom. Shenzen-based Lixun Electro-Acoustic admitted it was creepily monitoring the employees, whilst explaining the rationale behind its decision, according to a report in South China Morning Post.
The company said it undertook the surveillance to warn employees against using the bathroom for too long with few spending time smoking while others played video games.
"The staff were spending too much time in the bathroom smoking or playing games, which made other staff uncomfortable," the company said.
"Smoking in the bathroom is prohibited and the purpose is to prevent people from staying in the bathroom for long periods of time due to video games and other activities."
Notably, when the worker would not open the bathroom door for long, the other staffer would stand on the ladder and use the phone to click the pictures.
As the controversy snowballed, the company said it had taken down the photos a few hours later because "they do not look good".
I thought that it would be photos and timestamps for when people entered and exited the washroom, which would already be controversial
Notably, when the worker would not open the bathroom door for long, the other staffer would stand on the ladder and use the phone to click the pictures.
This took place in China, but that doesn’t imply legality at all. Just as all of the articles reporting labor law violations in the US is a reflection of the company breaking the law, rather than the law itself.
China has an interesting legal situation since they are a mix of communist and capitalist. Depending on the relationship of the company with the government they can get away with a lot of things that would be illegal for others.
A strawman invented by Marx to tear down. It is slightly related to what people do in the real world, but it is simplified in ways to make the real world seem evil.