There’s a viral video doing the rounds that appears to show workers at a Bank in China getting spanked for poor performance. I can’t even decide what’s more annoying. That adults are getting beaten in 2016 or the fact that the spanking was openly done, like it’s a normal thing to do.

Well, it is not and if those workers are smart, they will hire a good lawyer and sue their employer or whoever sanctioned those beatings. Might as well make that money, right? 

I can’t believe they basically lined up to get spanked. My worry is that bosses and supervisors elsewhere might pick this up as a form of punishment for their respective employees. Let me just put this out there. No one is getting their hands on me and I don’t even care if it is my dream job. 

I will put up with long hours, work on public holidays, bear with name-calling and even take a pay cut on my already meagre salary but I will not have anyone beat me up. It’s disrespectful and really unnecessary. I hated being canned in school and a couple of times at home so there’s no way I’m getting beaten at work for whatever reason. 

Even if those bank employees had misappropriated funds or caused the bank losses, the beatings would still be uncalled for. There are more civil and appropriate ways to handle underperforming staff or discipline errant ones in a professional manner. 

Someone can be reassigned, given the necessary training, a verbal warning or a temporary suspension and if their performance still doesn’t improve, they can then be terminated. I believe these kinds of measures and provisions are legal for workers around the world. 

I however don’t think any labour laws or workers’ handbooks permit spanking. I know there are people out there who would take a beating if it means they keep the job because the high unemployment rates and challenges of our time mean that if you’re lucky enough to get a job, then you do whatever it takes to keep it. 

That said, I think we as workers also need to draw a line. Some things are just wrong and whenever we don’t speak up, these injustices continue. There are of course lazy people and many employees who don’t do much to improve their performance or simply don’t care about their jobs. 

Overall though, many people are passionate about their jobs or if they’re not passionate, they still do what is required of them. Think of the women and men who wake up each morning to clean roads or doctors and ward assistants who’re on call 24/7 tend to medical emergencies. 

It’s a struggle for each one of us regardless of what we do and we may make mistakes along the way but at the end of the day, your hope is that someone, somewhere, appreciates what you do. I just want those in positions of authority to try and always put themselves in their subordinates’ shoes. Would you let anyone spank you as a corrective measure at work?