A man in China, who was tired after working late, fell asleep on his desk. He took a nap for an hour, which caught the attention of the HR staff at the workplace, leading to his termination. Taking a nap when there were tasks at hand initially got him fired from his job. But the same activity made him receive 350,000 yuan later, which is equivalent to Rs. 40,78,150. Wondering how? We have you covered.
1-hour nap at work
Identified as Zhang, a department manager at a chemical company in southeastern China, felt exhausted when he extended his working hours to midnight due to in-hand assignments.
A WeChat conversation that was accessed by local news outlets, read an HR staff's message to him: “Manager Zhang, how long did you nap that day?” to which he replied: “About an hour or so".
It was noted that he dozed off for an hour, purportedly affecting his pending work. This led to the company's HR looking into the matter and dismissing him from the job.
Zhang takes legal action
Zhang's case didn't end when he was fired from the company, rather it saw a significant twist.
The Chinese employee approached the court and sued the company for firing him for taking a nap at the office.
Zhang filed a lawsuit against the company and let the court evaluate his case through a legal procedure. Notably, the court's judgement came in favour of the employee.
Awarded compensation
He was awarded 350,000 yuan (US$48,000) in compensation, according to reports, which quoted Ju Qi, a judge at the Taixing People’s Court as saying, "Sleeping on the job was a first-time offence and did not result in serious harm to the company".
While evaluating the case, the court reportedly considered the company's policies and regulations, but pointed out that Zhang's actions weren't substantial to terminate him altogether.
