Asleep on the job... by order of the boss:
Chinese factory workers given half hour nap after lunch breaks
- Chinese factory employees allowed a 30 minute nap every day after lunch
- Government claims napping rule has boosted productivity by 30 per cent
- It is one of many rules to have vastly improved factory working conditions
It has taken decades for factory bosses in China to wake up to the idea that allowing their workers to sleep on the job is good for productivity.
So for half an hour every day, these employees at a plant in Guangdong are allowed to settle back in their spring-back chairs and grab some precious shut-eye.
Sitting in a chair might not be the most relaxed way of dropping off to sleep, as shown in this photo, but this is a vast improvement from years gone by when slumbering at the work desk was treated as a cardinal sin and often meant instant dismissal.
Hard at rest: Chinese electronics factory workers still wearing their protective clothing take their officially-sanctioned post-lunch naps
Granting official permission for workers to enjoy an apres-lunch nap at their benches is all part of reforms that have been implemented in recent years - and factories are reaping the benefits in increased productivity.
The ‘sleeping on the job’ rule has benefited workers so much that the Chinese government now happily reveals that there has been a 30 per cent increase in work flow since it came about, combined with the introduction of a 40-hour working week, a drop in eight hours.
This picture was taken by photographer Zhan Youbing who is well qualified to understand why even grabbing a nap in a chair is a matter of great comfort - for he is a former employee from a number of factories producing toys and electronic products.
Later learning photographic skills, he embarked on a project to observe what he says is the evolution of the manufacturing world, taking more than 40,000 photos revealing the various conditions his comrades were working under.
He recalls how, in 1995 at the age of 22, he arrived in the city of Guangdong along with many young Chinese from the villages seeking work in the burgeoning export-oriented industry.
The factories chose workers aged between 18 and 25 because the conditions were demanding - 15 hour shifts six or seven days a week with only short breaks for as little as 34p an hour.
The workers receiving the on-the-clock naps are based in Dongguan (pictured), in China's Guangdong Province
But since 2005 there have been vast improvements in working conditions, with salary increases, dormitories being provided for workers who prefer to grab a nap lying down, renovated dining halls and leisure areas where workers can play table tennis or simply relax.
Some factories have even helped to provide the children of their workers with education and make clean drinking water available to them.
But in an increasing number of factories these days, the greatest torture - sleep deprivation - is becoming a thing of the past. Well-rested workers are happy workers, bosses are now agreeing.
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