In recent days, an employee of a company in Shanghai posted online that she took an emergency one-hour leave due to the typhoon “Beluga” passing through, and was fined nearly 1500 yuan by the company. After the incident was exposed online, it sparked outrage across the internet.
On August 10th, influenced by Typhoon “Beluga,” Shanghai experienced heavy rainfall, causing flooding in many areas and the suspension of multiple subway lines. The female employee told JiMu News that it takes her an hour and a half to commute from her residence to the company by subway. Worried about being late for work, she decided to apply for a one-hour leave within the company system. The HR department approved it, but the boss did not.
Upon arriving at the company that day, she was criticized by the company boss. Subsequently, the company issued a penalty decision stating that she “did not follow the company’s required procedure of submitting a sick leave application one working day in advance, which constitutes fraud, using sick leave to cover up the fact of being late,” and deducted 20% of her monthly performance bonus, amounting to around 1500 yuan.
On the same day, another employee who took a one-day sick leave was also penalized with a 20% deduction in performance. In addition, the administrative manager who approved the leave was fined 50% of their performance for “irregular approval and managerial negligence.”
The employee stated that the usual penalty for being late once is only 200 yuan, but this time the penalty is much heavier. She does not accept the punishment and has submitted a letter of objection to the company.
After the incident was exposed, many netizens expressed that “employee safety should always come first in the face of extreme weather.” They also commented that “deducting a thousand yuan in performance bonus in extreme weather conditions is obviously not in line with regulations.”
In response to this, on August 12th, a staff member of the company explained that on the 10th, the company indeed issued a penalty decision internally, with three employees being fined. The staff member mentioned that “this was a decision made by the leadership, and we are not aware of other circumstances.”
Officials from the Qingpu District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau in Shanghai stated that the punitive measures were in violation. Employees who have been penalized can refuse to accept the company’s decision and file a complaint with the labor inspection department for resolution.