A HARDWORKING teenager died 10 days after her cruel boss forced her to do 100 squats for arriving late to work — on one occasion.

The 15-year-old Chinese schoolgirl, nicknamed Xiao Fei, died from respiratory failure — after she quit her studies and borrowed a friend’s ID to work and pay off her father’s medical bills 18 months ago.

Her employers at Qfang, a real estate company in Zhongshan City, China slapped down claims that the “punishment” caused her death.

Guangdong Television Broadcast contacted a manager, surnamed Li who insisted the exercise were “not a punishment”.

Although he did admit to making her complete the brutal exercise.

A lawyer said Qfang were unaware that Xiao Fei was not 16.

But Mr Jiang, Xiao Fei’s dad, insisted his daughter was punished for being late to work at the end of July.

He said her boss forced her to do 100 deep squats in the morning.

Describing the incident, her dad said: “My daughter was not feeling well after and bought some medicine. But she cannot move her legs.”

Days after the incident the teenager was unable to lift up her hands and collapsed.

She began to vomit and became paralysed.

Xiao Fei’s mother took her to Hunan in southern China, and sought medical help.

The young girl was shortly admitted into the intensive care unit of Central South University, Xiangya No 2 Hospital and died on August 7.

Doctor’s notes say Xiao Fei was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome, a rare and serious disorder that affects the nerve system.

But it did not point out whether the syndrome was directly caused by deep squatting.

This article originally appeared on The Sun.