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Fran Lu

An engineer in eastern China has been fired for taking frequent bathroom breaks that lasted longer than an hour despite his claims that he was suffering from haemorrhoids.
The man, surnamed Li from Jiangsu province, was let go for taking 14 bathroom breaks, the longest of which lasted four hours, in a month between April and May 2024.
The case was reported by the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions recently after the man took the company to court for illegal termination of an employment contract.
Li showed haemorrhoid medicine his partner bought online in May and June last year and his inpatient surgery records from January this year.

Li then sued the company, asking for 320,000 yuan (US$45,000) in compensation for the illegal termination of a contract.
The company submitted surveillance footage documenting Li’s frequent and long visits to the bathroom.
The court believed that the time Li spent in the bathroom was “greatly exceeded” his physical needs.
Also, the medical records Li submitted covered a period after he took many bathroom breaks. Li also failed to tell the company about his condition or apply for sick leave in advance, as required by the contract.
The company initially contacted Li via chat app when noticing his disappearance, but received no replies. Li’s position requires him to always respond to work requests.
The company fired him after checking the surveillance footage.

Li joined the company in 2010 and renewed an open-term contract in 2014.
According to the contract, leaving one’s post for a certain period of time without permission is considered absence and being absent for a total of three working days in 180 days leads to immediate contract termination.
The company also asked for the labour union’s permission before firing Li.
After two trials, the court eventually mediated between the two parties and persuaded the company to settle the case by providing Li with an allowance of 30,000 yuan (US$4,200), considering his contribution to the company and his difficulty following unemployment.
It is not the first time that Chinese companies have faced controversy over bathroom breaks.
In 2023, a man from Jiangsu was fired for frequently taking bathroom breaks.
His longest break was six hours in a day.
The court supported the company’s decision based on the same grounds as Li’s case.
In 2016, a driver took a bathroom break for six minutes when he was supposed to pick up a customer.

He missed five calls from the customer and lost the order. The company fired him and asked him to pay compensation of 21,550 yuan (US$3,000).
The court ruled that the driver was partly responsible for the loss of the order and asked him to pay compensation of 2,000 yuan (US$280).
Meanwhile, some companies have faced a privacy backlash for installing timers in bathrooms to control employees’ break times.
According to China’s Labour Law, employees enjoy the right to receive labour safety and sanitation protection, which includes the appropriate use of bathrooms.
“I would fire him if I were the company boss,” said one online observer.
“Putting the boss aside, I would be deeply disturbed if I were his colleagues. His staying in the bathroom for hours meant his colleagues were doing all his work,” said another.


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‘Haemorrhoid-suffering’ employee loses appeal after drawn-out legal tussle; court rules time spent in toilet ‘greatly exceeded’ his physical needs


‘Haemorrhoid-suffering’ employee loses appeal after drawn-out legal tussle; court rules time spent in toilet ‘greatly exceeded’ his physical needs.


Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions

China engineer fired for taking loo breaks of an hour each, with longest lasting 4 hours

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘Haemorrhoid-suffering’ employee loses appeal after drawn-out legal tussle; court rules time spent in toilet ‘greatly exceeded’ his physical needs

‘Haemorrhoid-suffering’ employee loses appeal after drawn-out legal tussle; court rules time spent in toilet ‘greatly exceeded’ his physical needs