Where hard work and going beyond what’s asked of you at work can help you climb the corporate ladder, it is not always beneficial to pursue such drastic measures. It can lead to a collision of work and personal life making it difficult to have a proper and balanced life, like spending time with family or getting proper sleep to continue working the next day. There is such a case where an employer terminated the employee for sleeping at work.
How It Happened?
Zhang, a department manager at a chemical company in China, was terminated after taking a nap at work, after being exhausted from late hours. The HR staff noticed Zhang sleeping instead of working, leading to his termination.
While the nap originally cost him his job, it eventually resulted him a windfall of 350,000 yuan (roughly Rs 40.78 million) by the court. Local news sources obtained a WeChat discussion in which an HR staff member questioned Zhang, "Manager Zhang, how long did you nap that day?" Zhang said, "About an hour or so."
Zhang's case took an unexpected turn following his firing. He decided to take legal action and sued the corporation for firing him for sleeping at work. The court examined the issue and, in an unexpected decision, decided in favor of the employee.
Zhang received 350,000 yuan (US$48,000) in compensation. According to sources, Judge Ju Qi of the Taixing People's Court ruled, "Sleeping on the job was a first-time offence that did not cause significant harm to the company." The court considered the company's regulations but found that Zhang's conduct did not justify his dismissal.
