Woman takes employers to court after being fired for 'turning up 40 minutes early'
Topics: News, Spain, World News, Jobs, Court
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/sukanya sitthikongsak
Topics: News, Spain, World News, Jobs, Court
A woman in Spain has decided to take her company to court after being fired from her job for repeatedly turning up to her place of work early.
Being fired for failing to be punctual isn’t too unheard of, and by and large makes sense from a company standpoint.
But a woman in Spain has been let go from her job for the exact opposite, she has regularly been too early for her work day and frustrated her company in the process.
According to a Metro report, a woman in Spain was told repeatedly not to come to work early as she was arriving between 6:45 and 7am, 40 minutes before she is meant to start work at 7:30 am.
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The unnamed woman’s boss repeatedly told the woman to stop arriving early and added that she wasn’t allowed to clock in or begin work ahead of her work time. She received these warnings both in written form and verbally.
Her employers also alleged that the woman had even attempted to log in through the company app ahead of reaching the office.
The woman arrived early on at least 19 occasions despite this and eventually her boss grew tired of this issue, telling her that she was fired.
In addition to this overly-punctual issue, her employers also said that there was another issue that saw the employee attempt to sell a used company car battery without permission.
After being dismissed, the woman decided to take the issue Social Court of Alicante, Spain, claiming her termination had been unjust.
The court ultimately favored the company in their final decision and argued that 'excessive punctuality' wasn’t the issue.
The court concluded that the attempt to sell the battery showcased a pattern of disloyalty as well as the failure to obey the rules after being warned.
They cited that the woman’s refusal to follow workplace rules was a breach of Article 54 of the Spanish Workers’ Statute. This statute outlines what conditions must be met for a company to have the leeway to terminate individuals.
After news of this story got to social media, many users sided with the woman and argued it was an unfair situation.
One social media user wrote: “This is the first time I’ve heard someone could lose their job for arriving early. At my workplace the boss would turn you into a statue.”
While another wrote: “If you’re late, they’re angry. If you’re early, they’re angry.”
At this point, the court’s ruling will stand, but the woman can still appeal to the Supreme Court of Valencia to get it repealed.