Ms. Peng of Jiangsu Province was denied a year-end bonus due to missing one day of work on sick leave, and the court ruled that the company should pay it
The approach of the New Year means that many people are looking forward to the arrival of the year-end bonus, but for Ms. Peng from Liyang, Jiangsu Province, she suffered the embarrassing situation of being rejected by the company because she missed a day of sick leave. The incident quickly sparked widespread public attention. Ms. Peng, a logistics employee at a company in Liyang, Jiangsu Province, was infected with the new coronavirus at the end of December 2022 and had abnormal nucleic acid test results. Despite her poor health, Ms. Peng continued to work, but as her condition did not improve, she repeatedly negotiated with the company to get a break. However, without the company's consent, Ms. Peng had no choice but to leave on December 29, the penultimate day of the year. After leaving the company, Ms. Peng believed that she had worked for the company for many years and should be entitled to a year-end bonus. As a result, she filed a lawsuit with the Liyang Court through legal channels, demanding that the company pay wages, compensation and year-end bonuses.
However, the company argued at the trial that according to the rules and regulations, only employees who attended the whole year could receive the year-end bonus in January of the following year, and Ms. Peng resigned on December 29 and did not meet the conditions for receiving it. However, after the trial, the Liyang court held that although Ms. Peng had resigned due to the new coronavirus and had to work for one day before she was considered to be full, the court found that Ms. Peng had worked for one year and was entitled to receive a year-end bonus, considering that the company should arrange sick leave for the employees. Eventually, the court ruled that the company should pay the year-end bonus.
This incident has raised concerns about the protection of employees' rights and interests. Under the framework of labor law, enterprises should respect and protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees, including wages and benefits during sick leave. For employees who take leave due to illness, the enterprise should handle it reasonably in accordance with relevant laws, regulations and internal rules and regulations, so as to avoid damage to employees' rights and interests due to misunderstanding or unfairness.
From this incident, we can see that enterprises need more humane care when dealing with employees' sick leave, and cannot just use rules and regulations as an excuse to deprive employees of their legitimate rights and interests. At the same time, when employees encounter similar situations, they should also learn to protect their rights and interests and defend their rights through legal channels. Such court decisions may also affect similar provisions in other companies, prompting them to be more cautious and reasonable in their treatment of employee sick leave.
In addition, it also reminds companies to consider the physical and mental health of employees more, and not just pursue profits without neglecting the protection of employees' rights and interests. Ultimately, we hope that this incident will promote fairness and harmony between more companies and employees, so that workers can obtain their due rights with dignity and justice.