Man in China loses job, Rs 73 lakh compensation after he was caught vacationing on sick leave

The man and his child were holidaying in China's southern island of Hainan which is also called the 'Hawaii of China'. (Representational image)

A man in China has been fired from his tech company after a colleague spotted him holidaying on a tropical island when he was on sick leave and was supposed to be on bed rest.

The man, Xu Moumou, contested the company's action at Beijing's Third Intermediate People's Court, but it was rejected in mid-April 2023, China's  National Business Daily (NBD) reported.

Xu also lost a 620,000-yuan (about Rs 73 lakh) compensation, that was awarded to him earlier.

As per the report, the dispute started in July 2019 when Xu applied for two weeks of paid leave but the request was rejected by his manager due to pressure at work. Xu told his manager that he had already bought tickets for the trip to China's southern island of Hainan with his kid, but was still not granted the leave. Interestingly, Xu was not a new joiner and had been working with the company since 1998.

Next, Xu applied for a 14-day sick leave. He also provided a medical certificate that stated that he was suffering from "dizziness and cervical spondylosis" which made it difficult for him to move. According to the medical certificate, a doctor had recommended bed rest and neck exercises. This time, the sick leave was approved, NBD reported.

But, when Xu was at the Hainan Airport with his son, he was spotted by a colleague who alerted his manager. As a result, Xu was fired from the company on the grounds that he traveled abroad during his sick leave and violated integrity.

Xu, however, fought back claiming that he was not travelling for fun but to recuperate. He also applied for arbitration by Beijing Chaoyang Arbitration Commission which ruled in his favour and ordered the tech company to pay Xu a compensation of Rs 73 lakh for illegally terminating his job.

But later, Beijing's Third Intermediate People's Court found that Xu had lied to his employers and he had no reason to travel given his medical condition. The court further upheld the termination and ordered the company not to compensate Xu, NBD reported.

Read more: Woman fired for calling in sick on Mondays wins Rs. 3 lakh compensation