China’s 48-Hour Rule: When Work Kills You, the Law Checks Its Watch
A 37-year-old engineer collapsed and died after a week of overtime in freezing conditions. Because his heart stopped in a restaurant—not at his desk—China’s 48-hour rule denied his family compensation. The law was applied correctly, but that correction is a feature, not a bug: it lets employers exhaust workers without legal liability, as long as death doesn’t occur on company time.