Activists¹ are calling for more supervision² over labor exploitation in an online crusade spearheaded by software developers against the so-called 996 work schedule, which is widely practiced in China's tech industry.

不久前，软件程序员们在网上掀起了一个反对996工作制的活动，一些活动人士呼吁对劳动剥削行为进行更强有力的监管。中国的科技公司普遍采用996工作制。

The rules-which require employees to work from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week without overtime³ pay-came under fire after a programmer created 996.ICU, a page on code-sharing platform GitHub.com. The page garnered⁴ immediate⁵ attention at home and abroad.

996工作制指的是员工从早上9点工作到晚上9点，每周工作6天，且没有加班费。一位程序员在代码分享平台GitHub网站上创建了996.ICU主页，这种工作制立即遭到抨击，并引发了国内外广泛关注。

The name 996.ICU refers to a saying among Chinese developers that following the 996 schedule puts you at risk of ending up in an intensive care unit.

在中国996工作制的程序员中流传着一句话：工作996生病ICU，996.ICU这一主页的名称由此而来。

In the weeks that followed the creation of 996.ICU in March, the page has accrued⁶ almost 200,000 stars-which indicates popularity among users.

3月份，在996.ICU主页创建后的几周内，星数就已超20万，星数代表该主页在使用者中的受欢迎程度。

“What’s the difference between these 996 companies and the old landlords who oppressed peasants???” said one post.

主页上的一个帖子写道：“采用996工作制的公司和旧社会的地主压迫农民有什么区别？”

996.ICU was Github’s most book-marked project on Friday with over 176,000 followers⁷.

上周五，996.ICU成为Github网站上标记最多的活动主页，有17.6万名粉丝。

Users listed tech companies that use the 996 schedule, and then created a licensing⁸ agreement that would ban such companies from using their codes.

用户们列出了采用996工作制的科技公司名称，之后创建了特许权协议，禁止这些公司使用这些程序员开发的代码。

The campaign against 996 work culture went viral on Weibo, drawing thousands of responses on China’s version of Twitter.

抵制996工作制的活动在微博广为传播，数千名网友回帖讨论。

The 996.ICU page was soon blocked on multiple platforms including the messaging tool WeChat and the UC Browser⁹.

不久，该主页被多家网络平台屏蔽，包括通讯工具微信和UC浏览器。

The 996 schedule was allegedly first adopted in 2016 by 58.com, a major online classified advertisement site.

据称，58.com网站是首家采用996工作制的公司。该网站是国内一家大型分类广告网站。

Jiang Ying, a professor at China University of Labor Relations and a leading expert on China's Labor Law, said the rare protest by sleep-deprived tech firm employees underscored the difficulties facing workers who defend their rights.

劳动法专家、中国劳动关系学院教授蒋英说，睡眠时间被剥夺的科技公司员工这种少见的抗议让我们看到了员工维护自己权益时面临的困难。

"When resorting to the legal system for protection, there is a price to pay: time, money and the risk of losing your job. And as a result they took to cyberspace," she said.

她说：“当诉诸于法律体系保护权益时，人们可能需要付出时间、金钱、以及丢掉工作的代价。因此他们诉诸于网络空间。”

Employers are obliged to provide overtime pay, bonuses and welfare benefits to employees working overtime. But many tech company employees said it was too much to hope for.

雇主必须向加班员工支付加班费、奖金和福利。但很多科技公司员工称这是可望而不可及的。

A senior developer with the e-commerce giant Alibaba, who asked not to be named to protect his career, said employers seldom say the schedule is compulsory¹⁰, but failure to follow the rules could lead to low performance scores and layoffs¹¹.

电子商务巨头阿里巴巴的一名匿名资深程序员说，公司管理人员很少说996工作制是强制性的，但如果不遵从这一规则，绩效分数会很低，甚至被裁员。

"Defiant¹² behavior can also lead to losing your annual bonus, which is a lot of money," he said.

他说：“不遵从996工作制还会让你拿不到年终奖，那也是一大笔钱。”

To better protect workers from harsh treatment, Jiang suggested that oversight¹³ should be beefed up, and systems for lodging¹⁴ complaints should be improved.

为防止员工遭受这样严苛的待遇，蒋教授建议加强监管，改进投诉机制。

China's Labor Law prescribes that the working hours of an employee should not exceed an average of eight hours daily, or 44 hours a week.

中国的劳动法规定，员工每天工作不得超过8小时，或每周不超过44小时。

Employers may extend working hours after consultation¹⁵ with an employee, but shall not exceed three hours a day or 36 hours a month.

雇主可以在与员工协商后延长工作时间，但加班时间不应超过每天3小时或每月36小时。

The 996 work schedule, however, can easily ratchet up weekly work to 60 hours.

但996工作制能轻易将工作时间增加到每周60个小时。

Jiang said tech firms represent the country's most advanced productive force and should have the wisdom to adopt a more effective way to improve productivity.

蒋英教授说，科技公司代表了国家最先进的生产力，应该有能力采用更有效的措施提高工作效率。