Concept · Business

996

996工作制

• jiǔ jiǔ liù
• China
• Debated publicly from the late 2010s

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Literally

Nine to nine, six days — the schedule stated as a number.

Commonly mistaken for

Not a lawful standard work schedule. China’s Labor Law, Article 36, states a daily limit of eight hours and an average weekly ceiling of forty-four; the State Council’s 1995 regulations establish the ordinary forty-hour week. Labor Law Article 41 generally caps overtime at thirty-six hours monthly, subject to the exceptions in Article 42. In August 2021 the Supreme People’s Court and labor ministry published ten illustrative overtime cases, including a courier-company dispute finding a compulsory 9 a.m.-to-9 p.m. six-day rule unlawful. Those cases provide concrete applications of labor protections; they do not outlaw the expression “996” itself.

Worked example: A courier-company 996 rule tested in arbitration

The first case in the 2021 official collection concerns a worker identified as Zhang, hired by a courier company in June 2020. Its rules required work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. After two months Zhang refused the excessive hours and was dismissed during probation. The labor arbitration commission found the dismissal unlawful and awarded RMB 8,000; labor inspectors also ordered correction of the company rule and issued a warning. The published decision addresses the hours and the dismissal, rather than forbidding the numerical expression “996” itself. The case also shows that the practice was not confined to technology firms.

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Related

• Involution (neijuan) — 内卷

Review status. Sources linked and checked against primary references, 18 October 2026. Corrected 18 October 2026: statutory hour limits cited precisely.