‘Bed rest’ Chinese worker spotted on tropical island resort loses US$87,000 compensation payout after court backs employer who fired him
- Employee of hi-tech company on sick leave with ‘back and neck’ problems was spotted at airport on picturesque Hainan Island
- After legal tussle, a court rules that his employer was within its rights to fire him
A Chinese man has been fired by his bosses after he took two weeks of sick leave but actually spent the time on the tropical holiday island of Hainan, China’s southernmost point.
In mid-April, Beijing’s Third Intermediate People’s Court rejected the man’s contention that his former employer fired him illegally, according to a report in the National Business Daily.
The man, surnamed Xu, had worked at a hi-tech company from 1998 to 2019.
At the beginning of July 2019, he applied to take annual leave from the end of July to mid-August. The request was turned down by his manager.
The report said that Xu told his manager he planned to take his child to Hainan and that he had booked air tickets.
However, his supervisor rejected the request because staff were required for an important project.
Xu then applied for sick leave between July 18 and July 31 and provided a medical note which said he was suffering from a headache and a serious back condition which prevented him from moving properly. It suggested that he take “bed rest” and do frequent neck exercises.
The company approved his sick leave.
However, during the sick leave period, one of Xu’s colleagues saw him at an airport in Hainan.
On August 21, 2019, his manager, surnamed Jing, called him asking him where he was.
In a recording of their conversation Xu was heard to say: “I am at home.”
“Are you in Beijing?” Jing asked, to which Xu replied: “At home. Yes.”
“I received a message that someone saw you at a Hainan airport. This is contradictory to what you said just now that you were in Beijing,” Jing said.
Xu then said: “I told you I was sick. I did not travel. I just stayed at home. That’s what I want to tell you.”
Two days later, Xu was sacked by the company for dishonesty and fraud.
Initially, a labour tribunal ruled that the employer should pay Xu more than 600,000 yuan (US$87,000) in compensation because it had violated the labour laws.
However, the company subsequently filed an appeal at the Chaoyang District Court which overturned the original ruling.
Xu then filed an appeal at the Third Intermediate People’s Court and insisted that he had not cheated his former employer because he owned a flat in Hainan and had gone there to recuperate, not for a holiday.
However, the court said Xu had gone against medical advice to rest by travelling and upheld the decision to fire him was appropriate.
