An employee who was fired for taking a one-hour nap at work successfully sued his company and was awarded over 350,000 yuan in compensation.
nap /næp/:(日间的)小睡,打盹
compensation /ˌkɑːmpenˈseɪʃ(ə)n/:(尤指)赔偿金;赔偿
Zhang, who had worked for a chemical company in Taixing, Jiangsu province, for 20 years, was dismissed after he was found sleeping at his workstation. The Taixing City People's Court ruled that the company's termination of Zhang's employment was unlawful and ordered the company to compensate him.
termination /ˌtɜːrmɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/:结束;终止
据江苏广电总台城市频道《南京零距离》栏目报道,张某是公司一部门经理,事发前一天,因为开车到半夜,第二天上班的时候,张某以趴伏及躺仰的方式在自己工位上睡了一个小时的觉。
半个月后,公司人力资源部工作人员给张某制作《面谈表》一份,载明“张某上班时困乏导致睡岗行为”。张某在该面谈表上签字确认。
后来,公司工作人员向本公司工会委员会征求意见后,工会出具《关于解除张某劳动合同通知的审批函》,同意以张某在上班期间睡岗,严重违法公司规章制度为由,解除与其的劳动合同。
同日,公司向张某出具《解除劳动该合同通知书》一份,载明:“张某同志:你于2004年入司,并签订无固定期限劳动合同。现因你上班期间睡岗,根据公司《员工手册》第二章第三条第一款关于纪律的零容忍规定。经与工会协商同意,决定解除你与本公司的劳动合同,此后你与本公司将无任何劳动关系。”
张某认为公司解除劳动关系违法,于是,起诉到法院。
法院审理查明:
张某确实存在违纪行为,但从其管理岗位特性及此次睡岗行为的严重程度来看,睡岗1小时并未给公司造成重大损失或极坏影响。
用人单位行使合同解除权必须以劳动者有违反规章制度的行为发生为前提,并且该行为必须达到严重程度。
从张某违纪行为的动机、次数、后果、影响、损失等几个方面考量,张某违纪行为具有偶发性,且客观上并未对某某公司造成重大损失或不良影响,不宜认定为“严重”,且张某入职公司20年,并多次被评优评先并晋升加薪,公司仅因其一次违反公司内部《员工手册》规定,就以较为粗暴的“一刀切”方式直接解除与张某的劳动合同,显然不具备合理性,同时,公司并无证据证明其《员工手册》中的相关规定系经过民主程序制定。
The court found that while Zhang did breach company rules, his one-hour nap did not result in significant loss or severe impact on the company.
breach /briːtʃ/:违反;违背
The court deemed the company's decision to terminate Zhang's employment based solely on this single infraction of the employee handbook to be unreasonable and excessively harsh.
infraction /ɪnˈfrækʃ(ə)n/:犯规;违法