Chinese Company Holds Workers’ Paychecks Hostage So They Won’t Buy Useless Stuff on Singles’ Day

In a claimed display of concern for their employees’ welfare, a manager of Chongqing, a catering company in China, has decided to delay the release of their workers’ paychecks in anticipation of Singles’ Day. The event, considered to be the biggest online shopping event in the country, is scheduled for Friday, November 11.

This year’s edition is set to be the biggest shopping day in Chinese history, with online shopping store Alibaba expecting to reach around $20 billion in sales. Prices of the goods for sale are expected to go down in celebration of the holiday.

Chongqing employees, however, will not be joining the annual massive spending spree this year since their 31-year old general manager announced that it will be holding the release of the paychecks this month, reported Tencent (via Shanghaiist).

Workers were notified of the controversial decision through a notice posted near the building’s entrance. According to the notice, the management was merely keeping the employees from overspending during the online shopping holiday.

Chongqing’s manager explained that he too experienced the same mistake and is just trying to save workers from potentially doing the same. He said he spent nearly 20,000 yuan ($2,942) during last year’s holiday, which included a 8,000 yuan ($1,176) computer he doesn’t even use.

The unnamed manager said that the workers’ average age is 25 and they usually don’t have enough savings, noting that they are at a point in their lives when they can’t afford to waste their very little money on useless products.

He noticed earlier that employees had already started picking out the things they were planning to buy on the anticipated date and he felt that the November 10 paycheck would end up being wasted and eventually affecting their work negatively.

However, he offered that for workers who are in desperate need of money, he can provide their salaries immediately.

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