SHANGHAI: A woman in central China who took a five-hour-long office nap during working hours and issued a tearful online complaint that her boss threatened to fire her if she did so again has captivated mainland social media.
The unidentified woman said she felt badly treated by her boss, adding that she was unhappy with the size of her salary, according to a report by the Haichao News.
She works in a company in Shangqiu, Henan province. Neither her employer’s information nor her job description is clear in the report.
The woman responded to her boss’s sacking threat in a viral social media post, saying: “I will not leave. I will make him understand the concept of what you get is what you pay for.”
Her boss discovered the woman had taken a long nap after she woke up and took a chocolate snack from his desk to eat.
Her boss, who suffers from glucopenia, almost collapsed in the office because he was not able to replenish sugar in time as a result.
“My boss became enraged. He said I meant to kill him. He gave me a warning, threatening to fire me,” the woman said in the video.
“For those who criticise me, you do not understand people like me who have such a low salary,” she added.
The woman’s story caused a buzz on mainland social media, where a majority of internet users argued against her.
“Any boss would not tolerate such an employee,” said one online observer.
“The Labour Law stipulates that a worker works eight hours a day. So deducting five hours for nap, time for lunch and going to the toilet, you have less than two hours for sitting in front of your desk to work,” another person said.
A third user quipped: “My God, I did not expect that one day I would support a boss, ha.”
“Set an alarm before you take a nap next time, so you will not miss the time to get off duty,” said another person.
State media CCTV reported that the best period for a nap is no longer than 30 minutes.
A lengthy nap might increase the risks of diseases such as heart disease, stroke and fatty liver, according to the report.
Stories about unusual labour conflicts often make headlines in China.
Last year, a company in southern Guangdong province triggered a public backlash for strictly requiring its staff to go to the toilet during specific time slots. - South China Morning Post
