A supermarket store manager in Shenyang, named in the report as Zhao Linlin, belonged to 38 WeChat work groups. In April 2023 she asked her employer for about 37,000 yuan in overtime pay. Arbitration rejected the claim, and she went to court.
The court held that her after-hours work on WeChat went beyond simple communication, was substantive labor and clearly took up her rest time. It counted as overtime. The case ended in mediation, with the employer agreeing to pay 8,400 yuan. China News Service reported the case in March 2024.