Supermarket Employee Fired For Showing Up Early And Working Extra Hours
The former manager is now suing his bosses for unfair dismissal.
By Samantha Khor — 30 Oct 2017, 01:42 PM
Yep, you read that right. A supermarket employee in Barcelona, Spain got fired after his bosses discovered that he'd been showing up early and working extra unpaid hours.
The former branch manager, known as "Jean P", would often turn up at 5am (an hour and a half before his shift) and spend "49 to 87 minutes" stacking shelves, making orders, and checking prices without being signed in to work
According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the Catalan branch of German discount supermarket chain Lidl found out that the Jean P would show up at least an hour before his shift to "prepare the shop for opening" without clocking in after reviewing CCTV footage in April.
The former supermarket manager has worked at the Catalan branch of discount supermarket chain Lidl since 2005. He was dismissed in June 2017.
Despite his dedication, Jean P was sacked by the supermarket who claimed that he breached Lidl's rules banning unpaid overtime
In Jean P's termination notice, he was accused of "very serious labour breaches" as he had broken the supermarket chain's rules of paying employees for every minute worked and making sure all worked hours are properly logged.
According to NZ Herald, he was also regularly in the branch alone, which is another breach of company rules. The Local ES also reported that the company received complaints from other employees that Jean P suggested they should also come in early.
Jean P has now taken his former employers to court for unfair dismissal and is seeking to get his job reinstated. The former manager also denied asking workers to turn up early for work, as alleged by the supermarket chain.
Trial commenced on Wednesday, in which the ex-employee stated he was never reprimanded nor punished for turning up early prior to his dismissal. He added that he only did so because the store was recently reorganised, hence extra time and dedication was needed to get the shop floor ready.
In addition, Jean P's lawter Juan Guerra stated that Lidl only benefitted from any breach of rules, adding that his client had to work longer hours because he was under pressure to meet sales and performance targets.
The case is currently still ongoing.