A Chinese company has revealed plans to fine women who dare have children without their permission.
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Workers at a finance firm in Henan province have reportedly been told they must apply for a “place on the birth-planning schedule” – and only those that have been employed for over a year will be considered.
However, this will only be granted on the condition that they are married and have been working at the company for more than a year.
They must schedule their pregnancy in advance so as not to “unduly influence” the company’s operations or face a fine of £100 (1,000 yuan).
Violators will not be considered for promotion or awards and their incentives and year-end bonuses will be cancelled “if their pregnancy severely hindered their work”, the policy said.
A representative of the firm admitted it had circulated the plan to staff, according to news portal The Paper.
News of the constricting announcement has gone viral on Chinese social media sites as citizens debate the issue.
It said: “An employee birth plan has been established and will be strictly enforced”. Employees who fail to follow the schedule, and whose work is affected by an untimely pregnancy, will be fined 1,000 Yuan and will lose any opportunity of getting promoted.
However, the company indicated the directive was only a draft and would be reconsidered should a majority of staff oppose it, according to local reports, which also quoted an official at Jiaozuo’s family-planning commission as saying that the guidelines violated “a female employee’s reproductive rights”.
Chinese media have strongly criticised the freakish proposal, with the China Youth Daily stating: ‘[The company] does not regard its employees as living human beings, instead it treats them as working tools on the production line.’.
How much say should an employer have over when – and whether – an employee gets pregnant? One commented that while the law is a bit harsh to its employees, the truth about it being the unwritten rule in several companies in China still stands to this time.
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Mothers in China may also need to wait at least four years after the birth of their first child before they consider making an application to expand their family.
