A programmer shared a self-made website called"996.ICU" on github.com, a well-known code-sharing platform, to protest against the long working hours required by many internet companies. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

"996.ICU" refers to employees who have to work from 9 am to 9 pm six days a week, whose health suffers as a result, and who end up in an intensive care unit.

Although such a work schedule has been widely denounced, several internet company bosses have openly said they advocate 996, while some of them have reportedly been implementing the schedule for a long time. On the 996.ICU website, programmers working for more than 40 well-known domestic internet companies shared evidence showing their companies asked them to work longer than the mandated hours.

This has been happening despite the fact that the 996 work schedule is illegal. The Labor Law clearly states that the working hours of an employee should not exceed eight hours a day or 44 hours a week, and the companies that force their employees to work longer should be punished.

However, in order to put a stop to the practice, employees must collect evidence, hire a lawyer, and go through very long procedures to take their employers to court. And after paying for the legal battle, all the employee will receive is compensation equal to a few months' wages.

Worse, the over 40 companies cover almost all big players of the internet industry. So even if an employee wants to change company, it is highly likely that his or her new employer will also demand he or she work a 996 schedule. Few companies will want to fall behind their competitors by offering their employees a shorter work schedule.

Only strict enforcement of the law can bring companies to the same starting line and prevent any of them from over-exploiting their employees. That in turn requires legislators to raise the punitive standards, and the legal enforcers to strictly implement them, so that no company dare violate the law.