And for those thinking about shortcuts, there's no cheating – an app is used to track the running.
From Oddity Central:
A Chinese company has replaced its year-end employee bonus program with another scheme designed to promote exercise – enticing financial rewards for employees who exercise on a daily basis.
Guangdong Dongpo Paper, a paper company in Guangdong Province, China, recently made international headlines for replacing its traditional performance-based employee bonus scheme with one based on athletic performance. To promote a healthy lifestyle among its 100 employees, management decided to reward them based on how much they exercise. For example, an employee will be eligible for a full monthly bonus if they run 50 km a month. They will get 60 percent of the bonus for running 40km, and 30 percent for 30km. Running enthusiasts stand to get a 30% bonus if they can prove they ran over 100 km in a single month.
“My business can only endure if my employees are healthy,” said Dongpo Paper boss, Lin Zhiyong, said, adding that he spent the last three years encouraging his employees to enjoy sports and fitness.
The distance run by every employee is tracked by an app on their phones, which also takes into account activities like mountain hiking and speed walking, which can account for 60 and 30 percent respectively of the total exercise required. The program has proven a great success, and Lin Zhiyong, himself somewhat of an exercise enthusiast, claims that all employees qualify to get the full bonus.
According to Chinese media, Dongpo Paper employees couldn’t be happier with the new bonus structure, claiming that the company now allows them to “kill two birds with one stone” as they “can get both health and money.” But while the new policy has been getting generally positive feedback online, some believe it can lead to discrimination.
So, what do you think, would you go for it? Consider this: you’d be improving your health while earning extra cash. In my opinion, it sounds like a win/win situation.
