The case concerns an employee who was dismissed for not informing the company for a trip to another province in March 2020 during when China was hit by Covid and pandemic prevention and control measures across the nation were very strict.

This happened in spite of the fact that he was aware that travelling outside the province required, by expressed company procedure, reporting to the Director General of the Company and that any violation found would result in summary dismissal.

The Employee filed labour arbitration and litigation, asking for the payment of an indemnity for wrongful termination of employment contract.

The Shanghai Yangpu District People’s Court’s decision is based on the following considerations:

• the Company’s requirement of reporting cross-provincial trip was reasonable during the pandemic prevention and control period and shall be viewed as employer’s valid rules and regulations;
• the Employee’s deliberate violation increased the risk of public health and safety;
• the dismissal based on the Employee’s failure of reporting cross-provincial trip was legitimate.

The decision must be read in the context of the health emergency, where in other times the employer would have to be cautious about requesting personal information from employees relating to acts performed outside working hours.

This decision adds to the numerous cases concerning dismissals connected, more or less directly, to the covid 19 pandemic, which have as their common interest in protecting the health of the employees' community.

The most recent decisions on this subject can be found in previous editions (May 2022, March 2022, January 2022,  October 2021).