Stop glorifying working overtime

"If you have time, put in extra hours," read a banner hung in the working area of Inspur Group, a leading IT company based in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province. Another read: "Everyone should work extra hours."

When someone posted photographs of the banners on social networking sites, they triggered a debate. On Monday, the local human resources and social security department told a media outlet that it would visit the place to investigate.

Many people have blamed enterprises for advocating the extra-working-hours culture.

But some argue that a hardworking spirit is good for both individuals and enterprises. That may be true. But a hardworking spirit cannot be invoked by advocating extra hours.

On any given day, employees anywhere in the world want to finish work early and go home. Should an emergency arise, most employees will definitely put in some extra hours. However, by hanging such slogans at the workplace, Inspur Group is openly advocating working overtime while infringing upon its employees' rights.

This kind of extra-working-hours culture might lead to employees trying to leave office later than the others. In fact, even those who finish their work early might not feel like leaving early because they might then be seen as being less productive than those who are actually less efficient.

This kind of work culture is not only detrimental to employees' health, but could also harm the enterprise's development, because it certainly won't encourage employees to work devotedly.

And why should they do so when the labor law stipulates that every worker must have an eight-hour working schedule, while clearly defining the circumstances under which an enterprise can arrange for extra working hours. In fact, the law has set an upper limit on the number of extra hours an employee can put in a day or a week.

Earlier this year, some internet companies broke from their past practice by allowing their employees to enjoy weekends and evenings off. It is time Inspur Group learned from them.