They run 3 kilometers every day to get a bonus!

A paper company in Guangdong, China, makes its 100 employees run 3 kilometers every day if they want to get a better bonus.

Lin Zhiyong, chairman of Guangdong Dongpo Paper, told the media on December 7 that employees' bonuses will be determined by the number of kilometers they run each month.

Employees need to cover 62 miles (about 100 kilometers) each month if they want to receive an annual bonus of 130 percent of their monthly salary. If they run 31 miles each month, they will receive a bonus equivalent to one month's salary.

GIFT OF RUNNING SHOES The company will give employees a free pair of running shoes if they run 31 miles every month for six months straight. Lin, who claims to have climbed Mount Everest twice, once in 2022 and once in 2023, bases his demand on health, saying, "My business can only survive if my employees are healthy."

According to Guangzhou Daily, the company's staff are also pleased with their boss's move. The paper company currently has about 100 employees on the payroll. One unnamed employee said, "Not only do we stay in shape, but we also get paid for it. It's two birds with one stone."

CRITICISM ON SOCIAL MEDIA However, the company was mocked on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform. One of the social network's users wrote, "You need to run two miles a day to reach the monthly goal of 62 miles. So the company wants its staff to be made up of athletes?" one user wrote. Some wrote that employees were risking their health just to get bonuses. One user wrote, "This requirement is considered extreme even for sports school students. It can damage their knees. Depending on the age and physical condition of the person, it can also trigger acute heart failure."

Others claimed that the company would soon go bankrupt. Another user on Weibo wrote, "Everyone, please pay attention to the future of this company. I believe it will go bankrupt in the next five years," another user wrote on Weibo.