ByteDance Rumored to Start “1075” Working Schedule
Recently, some Chinese netizens have posted on social platforms, quoting sources that ByteDance has begun to implement a “1075” working schedule (starting work at 10 a.m., with seven-hour work days, five days per week), with work after 7:00 p.m. calculated as overtime working hours.
Some netizens also revealed that ByteDance’s overtime system has updated the function of “overtime work on working days.” Feishu, an office software owned by ByteDance, updated a document on overtime work regulations in mainland China, which sets clear rules for overtime. Working hours are set from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. “But there is no official announcement at present and no email has been received.”
Besides, a number of employees of ByteDance have confirmed that the company has updated the Regulations on Overtime Management in the Chinese Mainland on its intranet, which mentioned that overtime work after 7:00 p.m. on working days needs an application to be approved by seniors. Each employee could work overtime for up to three hours every day and 36 hours every month.
Whether the new schedule could be implemented has become a big concern for netizens, with one writing: “After the news was sent out, my WeChat group of ByteDance colleagues was full of complaints, as many teams may encourage everyone to get off work on time and then have Feishu online meetings at home.”
Recently, the major Chinese internet giants have begun to try more changes to the working schedules of employees. For example, many companies started to implement the “big week/small week” policy whereby employees alternatively take one- and two-day weekends. However, in June this year, the major companies canceled the policy one after another, including ByteDance in August.
SEE ALSO: Chinese Internet Giants Want to Change Overtime Culture, but Employees Have Mixed Reactions
The “996” working schedule, which was previously common in Chinese technology companies, has been declared illegal by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Supreme People’s Court. In October, an online document covering details such as the working time of certain departments of more than 1,300 Chinese companies was spread on the internet. Among them, ByteDance’s employees basically work from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. every working day.
