02 快手取消大小周工作制

快手宣布结束周末加班后，一些员工很高兴又能拥有自己的周末，另一些员工则不想失去加班费，还有人质疑工作量会不会改变。

全文共584个词，by Yuan Yang in Beijing

China’s short-video company Kuaishou has formally cancelled its weekend overtime policy, while its competitor, TikTok’s parent ByteDance, is debating internally whether to do the same.

中国短视频公司快手（Kuaishou）正式取消了其周末加班政策，而其竞争对手TikTok的母公司字节跳动（ByteDance）也在围绕要不要这么做展开内部辩论。

The move by Kuaishou, which raised $5.4bn in a public listing earlier this year, comes as China’s tech sector grapples with employees’ complaints of overwork and mistreatment. In January, the news of two deaths at ecommerce giant Pinduoduo further stirred nationwide debate over the notorious “996” schedule of working 9am-9pm six days a week.

今年早些时候通过公开上市筹集54亿美元的快手采取此举之际，中国科技行业正在艰难应对员工对过劳和苛刻待遇的抱怨。今年1月，电商巨头拼多多（Pinduoduo）两名员工死亡的消息，进一步激起了全国对名声不佳的“996”工作制——即从早上9点工作至晚上9点，每周工作 6天——的辩论。

Kuaishou and ByteDance had previously embraced the practice common to many Chinese tech giants, known as “big/small weeks”, meaning that staff work one Sunday every alternate weekend. After half a year of doing so, Kuaishou announced it would end the practice as of this week.

快手和字节跳动此前采用中国许多科技巨头常见的“大小周”工作制，即员工每隔一周的周六要到公司上班。在实行这种工作制半年后，快手宣布停止这种做法。

Beijing’s regulatory tightening against Big Tech could be a reason behind the change, said Shan Guo, Shanghai-based analyst at consultancy Plenum.ai.

咨询公司Plenum.ai常驻上海的分析师Shan Guo表示，中国政府收紧对大型科技企业的监管，可能是这一变化背后的原因之一。

“After President Xi called to ‘prevent disorderly expansion of capital’ last year and‘strengthen protection of workers’ in April, it would be difficult for policymakers to keep a blind eye to tech giants’ labour practices, since the overtime policy benefits capital owners more than workers,” she [Guo] said.

她表示：“中国国家主席习近平去年呼吁‘防止资本无序扩张’，并于今年4月表示要‘切实保障广大劳动群众合法权益’。在此之后，政策制定者将很难对科技巨头的劳动条件视而不见，因为加班政策对资本所有者的好处大于对工人的好处。”

Staff at ByteDance and Kuaishou also speculated that their companies were motivated by cutting the high cost of overtime pay.

字节跳动和快手的员工还推测，公司的动机有一部分是削减高昂的加班费成本。

“We encourage staff to strike a balance between work and rest, and spend more time with your family and friends,” wrote Kuaishou in an internal note to staff reported by domestic media last week, adding that overtime could still be requested when needed. Kuaishou confirmed the policy change.

据中国媒体报道，快手在致员工的一封内部邮件中写道：“我们也鼓励各位同学劳逸结合，多陪伴家人朋友。”该公司补充称，如果需要，仍然可以“按需加班”。快手证实了这一政策改变。

Some Kuaishou staff rejoiced at having their weekends back. “Goodbye, big/small weeks!”posted one employee on professional networking platform Maimai, sharing a screenshot of her alarm set to weekdays only.

快手的一些员工很高兴又能拥有自己的周末。“再见，大小周！”一名员工在职场社交平台脉脉（Maimai）上发帖，并分享了一张她仅在工作日设置闹钟的截图。

But many others questioned whether the move was anything more than cosmetic, saying that they expected their teams would demand they “voluntarily” continue working on weekends.

但也有很多人质疑此举可能只是做样子，称他们预计所在团队会要求他们继续“自愿”周末加班。

If staff do in fact get their weekends back, the move means a significant reduction of income expenditures for Kuaishou. Chinese labour law states that weekend overtime must be paid at double the normal rate.

如果员工真的能拿回他们的周末，此举意味着快手的薪酬支出将大幅减少。按照中国的劳动法，周末加班的工资必须是平常工资的两倍。

As a result, under the big/small week policy, staff are paid around 20 per cent more, a bonus that some young professionals would rather keep.

其结果是，在大小周政策下，员工的薪酬会高出约20%，一些年轻的职场人士宁愿保留这份“奖金”。

Kuaishou’s move stirred the expectations of staff at its competitor ByteDance that they would soon follow suit, with domestic media reporting internal discussions that weekend working would be ended in July. ByteDance said it did not comment on market rumours.

快手的举动激起了其竞争对手字节跳动的员工的期望，他们希望公司能很快效仿。据中国媒体报道，字节跳动正在内部讨论在7月结束周末加班。字节跳动表示不对市场传言置评。

At a company-wide meeting last month, ByteDance’s incoming chief executive Liang Rubo announced that the company had been reconsidering its big/small week working policy,which it has implemented for many years. However, Liang added, a survey of staff found one-third supported continuing the policy, while one-third were against.

在上月的全公司会议上，字节跳动即将上任的首席执行官梁汝波宣布，公司正在重新考虑已实施多年的大小周工作政策。然而他接着表示，根据一项员工调查，有三分之一的人支持继续实行该政策，还有三分之一的人反对。

“There’s a lot of pressure to address it, but they haven’t necessarily decided on the best step forward,” said one employee. Another added that opinions were divided among the management and different staff teams.

一名员工说：“解决这个问题的压力很大，但他们不一定已经决定了该怎么做。”另一名员工补充说，管理层和不同员工团队的意见不一。

“Some don’t want to lose the pay. Some fear that if [weekend working] is cancelled but the workload doesn’t change, then they’ll end up losing out,” said an employee.

“有些人不想失去加班费。一些人担心如果（周末加班）取消了，但工作量没有变化，那么到头来吃亏的还是他们，”一名员工说。