In June 2016, a Guangming Daily commentary by Chen Fang noted that one reason for overtime had again set off heated discussion online: lingdao mei zou shei gan xian zou, “the leader has not left, so who dares to leave first?”
In March 2025, Zhao Lei, a vice president of the appliance maker Midea, described the same scene to the business paper Yicai. “After work, the leader does not leave, so the employees do not leave. But the employees sit there with nothing to do.” Midea said it had issued no notice barring overtime after 6:20 p.m. It said it encourages staff to leave on time.