Chinese automotive giant BYD is once again under public scrutiny.

According to online posts allegedly made by internal employees at BYD, the company’s management has verbally ordered staff to work at least two hours of unpaid overtime each day. In particular, the engineering department is reportedly required to work until 8:00 PM daily without compensation. One internet user noted that this amounts to 40 hours of unpaid overtime per month.

Additionally, there are complaints about short lunch breaks, a seven-day limit on paternity leave, and performance score deductions for being even one minute late. Moreover, the company’s employment contracts reportedly mention only the base salary, without clear details on performance bonuses or profit-sharing incentives.

Further discussions online have raised several additional concerns:

• Unpaid overtime: The engineering department is reportedly required to work until 8:00 PM daily, increased from 7:30 PM last year.

• Limited lunch breaks: Although employees are officially granted a one-hour lunch break, over 30 minutes are spent queuing for food, leaving less than 10 minutes for actual rest.

• Paternity leave restrictions: Exceeding the seven-day leave limit reportedly results in the loss of all performance bonuses.

• Strict attendance policy: Employees must clock in four times per day. Being even one minute late leads to performance deductions, and each employee is allowed only one correction

  per month.

• Workplace surveillance: Reports suggest that supervisors monitor staff to ensure they do not use mobile phones during work hours.

• Unclear contract terms: Employment contracts are said to list only the base salary, with no explicit mention of bonuses or profit-sharing.

Other netizens have confirmed these claims, with some stating that unpaid overtime is common in certain departments, significantly affecting take-home pay. One employee from the “12th Business Unit” reported receiving a base salary of only 2,500 yuan (approx. 348 USD). Without overtime, their monthly income drops to 2,000 yuan (approx. 278 USD). To sustain daily living costs, they need to work overtime to earn between 4,000–5,000 yuan (approx. 556–716 USD).

Another engineering department employee confirmed the one-hour lunch break and noted that repeated corrections to attendance punches result in performance deductions. Their contract only listed the base salary, and during the job interview, they were told only the “P-value” (likely a performance metric) was guaranteed, while other bonuses were variable.

These allegations regarding forced unpaid overtime, alongside other ongoing issues, continue to place BYD under pressure from both the public and the media. As of now, the company has not released any official statement in response to these claims.

Source: QQ