Hong Kong employee lands in trouble after etiquette gaffe at office party, internet debates

The worker stated that the manager of his team had proposed a dinner for the entire team and insisted on drinking during the dinner and raising a toast. (Representational Photo)

A young office-goer in Hong Kong has posted a complaint on social media about being victimised by his boss due to an etiquette mistake that he committed during a night out with colleagues.

As per a report published on the South China Morning Post website, in a thread, titled “Offended my boss by not knowing the rules when drinking with him.” posted on the anonymous forum Dcard, the worker stated that the manager of his team had proposed a dinner for the entire team and insisted on drinking during dinner and raising a toast.

The office-goer revealed that while taking the toast, he had failed to observe an "important piece of etiquette" in the eyes of the seniors. As per a colleague, the manager was extremely angry at the worker as during the toasting process, he had raised his glass higher than his boss. The office-goer claimed that as a result of this error on his side, he was scolded by his boss at the workplace.

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According to Chinese table culture, the younger members of any team are encouraged to lift their glasses at a lower height than the elders, while toasting.

The post received more than 30 comments, majority of which accused the boss of being unreasonable and rude. An anonymous observer commented saying, “Last week, at our department dinner I offended a colleague by being the first to move my chopsticks.”

Few others felt that the boss had perhaps been troubling him since he was performing poorly at work.