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A Chinese man was fired by his employer for spending too much time in
the toilet during work hours. The man reportedly took bathroom breaks of
between 47 minutes and 6 hours.
Chinese news media recently reported the bizarre case of an employee
surnamed Wang who sued his employer for wrongful termination after being
fired for spending too much time in the toilet during work hours. After
undergoing surgery for an anorectal issue, the man continued
experiencing pain and discomfort, so he started spending three to six
hours in the toilet every day. Wang’s former employer claims that during
a period of 10 days, he took a total of 22 bathroom breaks, which lasted
between 47 minutes and 6 hours. Citing provisions in the staff handbook
relating to tardiness, leaving work early, and authorized absences, the
unnamed company from Tianjin terminated Wang’s employment.
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Wang suffered the surgery in December 2014, and his employer claims that
he started taking unusually long bathroom breaks after returning to work
in July 2015, something spending several hours in the office toilet.
After having Wang monitored between September 7 and September 17, 2015,
during which time he took at least 3 long bathroom breaks per day, the
company decided to terminate his employment.
In October 2015, Mr. Wang sought arbitration to have his position with
the company reinstated, and the two parties engaged in a lengthy legal
battle that ended this year, when the Tianjin high court ruled that the
man’s bathroom breaks were not within “reasonable and normal
physiological needs.” Wang did not get his job back.
This story got a mix of responses online, with some people defending the
employee for having a serious medical condition, and others claiming
that his breaks were justified because of his surgery.
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“In the toilet for three, four hours? Was he sleeping in there?” one
person wrote on Weibo.
“So how many hours are you actually working?” someone else wrote.
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