Company under fire for an iPhone 7/7s ban on employees

A company in central China's Henan province said they will reconsider their new policy to dismiss any employee who buys an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, which has caused an uproar on Chinese social media, Henan based Hnr.cn reported.

据河南映象网报道，河南一家公司之前曾公布了一项政策，公司员工一旦购买iPhone 7或者7 Plus就会被辞退，此举造成中国社交媒体用户一片哗然，而随后该公司也表示将对这项政策进行重新考虑。

"Our company forbids all employees from using or buying the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Whoever is found in violation of that rule will be immediately forced to resign," read a notice released by the company on Sept. 18. The notice also called for employees to stop buying other U.S.- and Japan-made products, and to support domestic products instead. The ban was deliberately made public on Sept. 18, the 85th anniversary of the 1931 incident that triggered Japan's bloody, 14-year invasion of China.

该公司9月18日公布的一项通知写道："本公司所有员工禁止使用或者购买iPhone 7和7 Plus。任何违反这一规定的人都将被立即辞退。"这份通知同样呼吁员工不要购买其他美国和日本的产品，而要支持国货。这项通知有意选在9月18日发布，当天正是九一八事变、日本14年侵华战争85周年纪念日。

"If we have some disposable income, and if conditions allow it, let's [use the money to] take better care of our parents' health. Let's pay more attention to our kids' growth, to the value of life and to the prosperity of our country," read the notice. The report by Hnr.cn did not give the name of the company.

这份通知写道："如果我们经济宽裕，如果我们条件允许，请让我们更关心父母的健康、更关爱孩子的成长、更关注生命的可贵、更关怀国家的兴亡。"河南映象网的报道并没有给出这家公司的名字。

Since its release and subsequent media exposure, the rule had become the seventh hottest topic on Sina Weibo as of 10 a.m. on Sept. 21, with more than 6 million Weibo users viewing the discussion. Some netizens accused the ban of being "barbarous and coercive." User "AND_YOUwu" commented, "It is my own freedom to determine what phone to buy," while another user, "Dunduner," wrote, "A company with such a narrow-minded [idea of] patriotism will soon collapse."

自从该公司发布这份通知、媒体随后曝光后，截止9月21日早10点，这一规定已经成为了新浪微博上第七热门话题，超过600万微博用户浏览了这一讨论。一些网友指责这份禁令是"野蛮、强制的"。用户"AND_YOUwu"评论说道："决定购买哪款手机是我的自由，"而"Dunduner"则写道："一家怀有如此狭隘爱国心的公司迟早要倒闭。"

At the same time, the ban did have its supporters.

与此同时，确实有人支持这份禁令。

"After all, [the ban] comes from a good place, aiming to support made-in-China products and family values," said Weibo user "Zaijian…Xiaodingding."

微博用户"Zaijian…Xiaodingding"说道："这份禁令的出发点毕竟是好的，想要支持国货和家庭价值观念。"

An employee from the company surnamed Liu told Hnr.cn that the notice was issued directly by the company's chairman, who had read extreme stories about Chinese people being so desperate for iPhones that they traded their own organs for money to buy the phones. The chairman didn't want his own employees to face such pressure. The chairman also hoped that the date of the announcement would stir up employees' patriotism.

该公司一名刘姓员工对映象网透露说，这份通知是由该公司董事长直接发布的，他读了一些非常极端的故事报道–认为中国人非常渴求iPhone，以至于某些人会卖掉自己的器官来买手机。这位董事长不想让他的员工们面对这种压力。这位董事长还希望这份通知发布的日期–九一八–能够唤起员工们的爱国主义精神。

"I will tell the chairman about public opinion toward the rule, and suggest that he reconsider it," Liu said.

刘说道："我会告诉董事长公众对这份规定的意见，并且建议他再考虑一下。"

Legal experts told Hnr.cn that such a ban is actually against China's Labor Law, and doesn't have the legitimate power to void a working contract.

法律专家对映象网表示说，这样的禁令事实上是违反了中国劳动法，没有法律效力，是无效的劳动合同。

Source: People.cn