I'm overwhelmed with work! Employees refusing to take over the responsibilities of departing colleagues and being dismissed—these pieces of evidence need to be preserved.

“My own workload is already too much to handle

Sometimes I even have to work overtime just to get things done

But the company forcibly makes me take over the work of a colleague who resigned

After I refused, I was fired”

Recently, the Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court issued a final judgment in a labor dispute case involving a certain food company’s Beijing branch and employee Li Qing (a pseudonym). The court dismissed the company’s appeal, upheld the original first-instance judgment, and ordered the company to pay Li Qing compensation for unlawful termination of more than 120k yuan.

Refusing to take over a resigned colleague’s work led to dismissal

The court ruled the company must compensate 120k yuan

According to media reports, on March 22, 2023, the company’s supervisor, Song, officially notified Li Qing through the company’s internal email, requiring her to take over the e-commerce order business of the resigned employee Liu starting immediately. Li Qing replied “Received” the next day, but then first communicated with her supervisor, stating that her own work was busy and she could not manage it at the same time, and requested the company to temporarily assign other staff to take over that part of the work.

After that, both sides communicated multiple times regarding work arrangements. Li Qing clearly stated that her workload was already saturated. In March 2023, after taking over another resigned employee’s food and beverage orders, she had to coordinate sales personnel who increased from 18 to 52, which significantly increased her work pressure. If she were to take over the e-commerce orders as well, she would inevitably need to work a large amount of overtime—beyond a reasonable load and unable to ensure work quality. However, the company insisted that the arrangement was reasonable and lawful. It argued that other people in the order group had already taken over the work of the resigned colleague, and that Li Qing’s refusal constituted noncompliance with management and violated the labor contract agreement.

On June 21, 2023, the company, on the grounds that after receiving a written warning once, Li Qing again violated company rules by refusing to follow normal work arrangements, formally sent her a notice of termination, unilaterally解除 the labor contract between both parties, and did not pay any economic compensation.

On July 2023, Li Qing applied for labor arbitration, requesting that the company be ordered to pay compensation for unlawful termination of 129.3k yuan according to law. The arbitration award confirmed that Li Qing and the company had a labor relationship from September 1, 2020 to June 21, 2023, but dismissed Li Qing’s other arbitration requests.

The company was dissatisfied and appealed. After hearing the case, the Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court made a final judgment according to law: the appeal was dismissed and the original ruling was upheld.

Lawyer: The company abused its management authority

Workers may refuse arrangements and protect their rights with evidence

Not “taking over” a resigned colleague’s work means getting dismissed

What legal provisions did the company violate?

When workers encounter such incidents

How should they safeguard their own rights and interests?

Zhao Liangshan, a lawyer from Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm, said that from a legal perspective, this case clearly defines the boundary between an employer’s right to independently arrange labor and a worker’s lawful rights and interests. The company, despite the fact that the employee’s workload was already saturated and there was ongoing overtime, forcibly arranged for her to take over the work of a resigned colleague. After the employee reasonably refused, the company dismissed her directly, which already constitutes an unlawful termination of the labor contract.

Pursuant to the 《Labor Contract Law》, only when an employer and worker reach agreement through consultation may the content of the labor contract be changed, and adjusting work tasks falls under the same category.

In addition, the law also provides that any unilateral adjustment of a position or work content must be reasonable; it must not exceed normal work burdens, and it also cannot be used as a reason for arbitrary dismissal. The court found that the company failed to provide evidence proving that the work arrangement was reasonable. Dismissing the contract solely on the basis of “disobedience to management” lacked statutory grounds. This aligns with the basic spirit of labor law that enterprises must not abuse management authority and must not force excessive labor.

Zhao Liangshan explained that from the perspective of adjudication rules and guidance on rights protection, this case makes clear that workers have the right to refuse clearly unreasonable work arrangements and that such refusal does not constitute misconduct. Under Article 48 and Article 87 of the 《Labor Contract Law》, if an employer unlawfully terminates a labor contract, it shall pay compensation to the worker.

The court’s final ruling

The company must pay compensation of more than 120k yuan

This both reflects

protection of workers’ right to rest

and the right to labor protection

and also regulates employers’ labor management practices

“ When an enterprise assigns work to resigned employees’ jobs, it must consider the employee’s actual workload, prove the rationality of the arrangement with evidence, and fully consult with the employee. It may not simply and roughly assign tasks and dismiss the employee at the drop of a hat.” Zhao Liangshan said.

In relation to this case

the lawyer advises all workers

If you face unreasonable work arrangements, you may refuse lawfully

and also be sure to retain

evidence such as workload, overtime records, and communication records

so that you can effectively protect your rights in the dispute

Compiled from Cover News and Workers’ Daily (reporter Lai Zhikai)

Source: Newsroom