Last Updated:
A female worker in Spain was fired from her job because she came to the office much before the start time of her shift. After being fired from the job, the woman sued the company. However, the court also ruled in favor of the company.
There are many people in the office who often come late. If the manager asks him the reason for coming late, he also has excuses ready. But these excuses do not work for long. In such situations, many times these people have to lose their jobs also. But have you ever heard that someone can be fired from the job for reaching work early? This is a case that can spark debate across the world regarding legal aspects related to company-employee relations. A similar case has recently come to light in Spain. A woman living here recently filed a case in the court against the company which had fired her from the job on the grounds that she used to come to work too early in the morning.
This Spanish woman had this bitter experience when, despite repeated warnings, she did not give up the habit of coming to work before time and was ultimately fired from her job. The woman worked in a delivery company located in Alicante, Spain. Her habit was to reach her office between 6:45 am and 7:00 am, whereas it was clearly written in her contract that her shift would start at 7:30 am. This meant that she started her shift much earlier than her colleagues, which made her manager unhappy. He was first reprimanded for this habit in 2023, but he continued to come early, ignoring minor warnings from management.
In the beginning of the year 2025, the woman’s boss decided to fire her for ‘serious misconduct’. The boss argued that by coming in so early the employee had no work to do and hence she was not contributing to the company. It was argued that she was also using electricity and other resources of the company when she was not supposed to be at work. However, the employee did not agree with this and challenged this decision in a social court in Alicante. The girl was surprised to know that the court took the side of her employer. The court reasoned that by repeatedly ignoring management’s warnings, the employee had negatively impacted the employee-employer relationship.
“The employee’s work habits (frequently arriving early) have seriously damaged the relationship of trust and loyalty with the company. This is because even though the company had warned her not to arrive early, the woman consistently ignored that warning and continued to come to work early,” the court’s decision said. The court further said, “Therefore, it was held that this behavior of the employee was a very serious misconduct showing disobedience, breach of trust and lack of loyalty. In such a situation, the company had every right to fire him.” Thus, the Court also upheld the company’s decision on the basis that the employee disregarded the company’s clear instructions and warnings, thereby breaking the bond of trust and loyalty between the employer and the employee, which is essential in any workplace.
