Overview
- The programmer, identified as Xing, collapsed and died in a second-floor office bathroom after arriving at work on April 23 and being found unconscious at 11:28, with death confirmed by a doctor later that day.
- On July 3 the Shenzhen Human Resources and Social Security Bureau rejected the employer’s application to classify the death as work-related because Xing had not reached his 11th-floor desk or logged into his computer.
- Xing’s wife has filed an administrative review appealing the bureau’s ruling, and the case remains pending before regulators.
- A Beijing lawyer argued that workplace bathrooms are a reasonable extension of an employee’s work position because using the toilet is a necessary physiological need, and a 2024 Guangdong court decision about a chef who died in a workplace bathroom shows inconsistent past rulings.
- If the appeal succeeds the family could gain funeral and dependent benefits plus a one-time lump sum reported at 1,130,040 yuan, a prospect that has driven broad public outcry and renewed scrutiny of how ‘on duty’ status is defined.