Ex-Employees in S’pore Boutique Claim They’ve to Do Squats As Punishment & Report Their Weight Regularly

Staff at Southaven, a woman’s boutique in Singapore, are accusing their company of doling out corporal punishments and hazing.

According to a series of posts uploaded by staff on a Facebook group, they were allegedly only given 20 minutes for a meal break and were banned from using their own phone during work.

It was also alleged that the employees were made to work 12 hours per day, with only 4 days break per month. Allegedly without extra pay.

According to AsiaOne, many employees have broken down while working at the boutique.

Hazing From The Seniors & Fines Over The Littlest Things

It’s not just on Facebook.

An ex-employee of Southaven, Lin, told reporters from Shin Min News Daily that they were fined over the littlest things.

Forget to cap a pen? $1 fine.

The customer left the fitting room without purchasing anything? $1 fine.

Gained weight? Another fine.

They’re also allegedly fined if they did not put on enough perfume or lipsticks.

It was also added that seniors working at the boutique also added to their juniors’ misery by bullying them.

Squats

Lin added that when she and her colleagues failed to hit the sales target, they were made to do squats as punishment.

She was allegedly made to do 200 to 300 squats when they failed to hit the sales target for Lunar New Year.

Another colleague, Liu, also said that she had experienced the squats when she was working there.

Not only that, but the employees also allegedly had to report their weight every week in a group chat called “Fatty Club”.

It was also alleged that employees have to take money out of their own pocket to treat employees from the top-performing store.

According to Southaven’s website, the boutique has 5 outlets located in Singapore.

Boutique Has Responded

A spokesperson from Southaven, 58-year-old Zheng Jin Ta, has responded to the allegations.

Zheng said that the company had not enforced any fines on the employees.

The “fines” for trivial things were the employees’ own “system of reminders”.

The money from the fines also went into a pool that was managed by the employees, he claims.

The squats did happen as well but it wasn’t ordered by the company. It was done, willingly, by the employees for not hitting the targets.

He added that “Fatty Club” wasn’t organised by the company. Instead, the group chat was set up by employees to encourage their overweight colleagues to “exercise”.

Not taking part, he says, will not affect their employment, nor were employees made to treat their colleagues.

Read Also: