China: Man fired for napping in office awarded Rs 4 million in compensation
Man fired for sleeping in office
A Chinese man was dismissed by his company for napping in the office after working until past midnight the previous day. The man, identified as Zhang, was awarded 350,000 yuan (US$48,000) in compensation by a court. Zhang had been with the same company for 20 years. He was a department manager at a chemical company in Taixing, Jiangsu province in southeastern China.
Cameras caught him napping in the office one day, a violation of the company policy, as per a SCMP report. A day earlier, Zhang had stayed late at the office for a work-related drive.
Two weeks later, the company’s HR department stated in a report that Zhang had been “caught sleeping at work due to exhaustion”. He also signed the report. As per the record of a conversation circulating online, an HR staff member asked him, "Manager Zhang, how long did you nap that day?”
He responded: “About an hour or so.”
The company then consulted with a labour union and issued a notice dismissing Zhang, stating that he had violated the company policy.
“Comrade Zhang, you joined the company in 2004 and signed an open-ended employment contract. However, your behaviour of sleeping on the job is a serious breach of the company’s zero-tolerance discipline policy," it read.
It added that following the union's approval, "the company has decided to terminate your employment, ending all labour relations between you and the company."
Zhang went to court over the dismissal
Zhang was unhappy with the decision, having spent 20 years at the company. He filed a lawsuit against the company.
The court agreed that a company has the right to terminate its employees. However, this should only happen if an act causes significant loss. It further noted that Zhang had grown in the company, being given multiple promotions and salary increases. It termed the decision to terminate him excessive and unreasonable.
“Sleeping on the job was a first-time offence and did not result in serious harm to the company,” Ju Qi, a judge at the Taixing People’s Court, said.
