The footage was widely condemned on Chinese social media, and the man was chastised by police, with the company he worked for receiving a temporary shut-down over the incident.
"I hope these companies that trample on their workers dignity would be closed down," one social media user wrote.
"How could they give up their dignity for money?" asked another.
While isn't the "norm" in China, there have been several incidents of brutal work-related punishments across the country.
Last year, shocking footage went viral of lined up workers being slapped in the face after apparently performing poorly at their jobs.
In another incident, a beauty salon in Nanchang tried to "motivate" its employees by getting them to slap one another in the face during an anniversary event.
A worker was quoted as saying that the bizarre exercise was "meant to strengthen team bonds".
In 2017, Chinese social media users were left appalled after footage went viral of workers being forced to drink toilet water for not reaching their training targets.
According to the Shanghaiist, employees at a Sichuan photography studio were made to drink the dirty water for their poor work performance.
One of the female workers said she suffered diarrhoea as a result, and couldn't even eat rice without wanting to throw up.
The video was leaked from the employees' WeChat group and went viral. The person who filmed it was later detained for four days.
In 2016, employees from a Chinese sales comapny were forced to eat live worms as a punishment for not making their sales targets.
Pictures emerged of queasy employees having to drink Chinese rice wine which contained wriggling mealworms in front of their colleagues, Huashang Daily reported.
One employee said that wasn't the first time the incident had taken place, saying they've previously been forced to eat live squid and ants as punishment.
Suddenly a curt "See me in my office" email doesn't seem so bad.
