Longtime Chinese Employee, Fired For Sleeping At Desk, Drags Company To Court And Wins Rs 41 Lakh

Last Updated:November 25, 2024, 10:05 IST

His actions at work were cited by the company as a major breach of discipline and conduct that warrants dismissal.

A department manager, who was fired for sleeping on duty, has been awarded 350,000 yuan (around Rs 41 lakh) by a court in Jiangsu province, China. The employee, identified only as Zhang, had been working for 20 years for a chemical firm in Taixing. His dismissal came after he was caught napping for an hour at his workplace in surveillance footage earlier this year.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the case came to light after Zhang signed a report by the company’s HR department stating he was “caught sleeping at work due to exhaustion.” In a WeChat group that leaked, Zhang also stated that he once slept at work for “an hour or so”, when asked by some HR staff.

The company served Zhang with a dismissal notice, citing his actions were a major breach of discipline and conduct that warranted firing him.

The notice acknowledged his long tenure, stating, “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. Consequently, with the union’s approval, the company has decided to terminate your employment, ending all labour relations between you and the company,” SCMP reported.

Unconvinced of the fairness of his dismissal, Zhang promptly took the matter to court.

The Taixing People’s Court examined the case, weighing the standards of the company’s disciplinary policy against Zhang’s record of employment and the circumstances of the violation. Presiding over the case, Judge Ju Qi stated that while it’s legal for companies to maintain employee rules and fire employees for their breach, this must be fulfilled under certain conditions where the actions of the worker have had detrimental effects.

“Sleeping on the job was a first-time offence and did not result in serious harm to the company,” Judge Ju was quoted by SCMP.

The court also acknowledged that Zhang had served for more than two decades and for this period, he was promoted several times, received a number of salary increments and his performance was good. Due to these reasons, the court observed that the termination was disproportionate.

Finally, the court sided with Zhang determining his dismissal to be unjustified and unreasonable. The chemical company was told to compensate Zhang with 350,000 yuan.

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