Barely a week after Liu Jiaqi was deported over racism, fresh details have emerged of the nightmare Kenyans working at his Chinese motorcycle assembling firm Sonlink go through.
An source revealed a worrying trend of institutionalized harassment of black Kenyan employees and controversial rules that employees are expected to adhere to.
Failing to pick a phone call from the bosses attracts a fine of Sh. 1000 and this is increased to 2000 should one fail to pick more than one call. Lateness for work sees an employee lose Sh 50 for every minute and this is documented in company rule stating that “Time after 8:31am and 13:31pm treat as late. Fine Sh50 for every minute of lateness”.
When an employee leaves their work station for 15 minutes, it is treated as absence with severe punishment for the same.
So severe is the situation where laughing is a crime, making the environment tense and somber.
“Every employee must stick to the work. No laughing. No noise. If (you) leave the position for 15 minutes without reasons. Treat it as absence,” reads one of the company’s regulations.
Harassment of black Kenyans by their Chinese bosses is deeply rooted in the company with a list of rules, procedures and disciplinary measures that make each day at the firm a living hell for employees who have to contend with the situation due to scarce employment opportunities.
While some are lucky to be fined, the unlucky ones lose their jobs at the hands of their bosses who reign with terror.
The company made headlines after a video of Liu Jianxi spewing racist remarks went viral, resulting in his deportation.