At the end of the year, major companies in mainland China are holding their annual meetings, and workers are preparing for the shows. A few years ago, a female employee in Hangzhou was dismissed for “not wanting to dance,” and this topic has once again become a hot search, sparking heated discussions.
According to a report by Extreme News on the evening of December 24, Ms. Wang, 36 years old, worked as a beautician at a health management company’s store in Xiasha, Hangzhou. One day in mid-January 2021, after working 12 hours straight, Ms. Wang got off work at 9 p.m. However, her supervisor didn’t allow her to leave, stating that the company was about to have an annual meeting and needed to rehearse a dance. Feeling exhausted and since she was not informed about the dance rehearsal in advance, she went straight home.
The store manager immediately reported the incident to higher-ups, who then asked in the WeChat work group: “How is the dance rehearsal going at the store?”
Ms. Wang suggested: “Before doing anything, at the very least, time should be reasonably arranged, and no last-minute notices. If this continues, people will get sick.”
The store manager responded: “You know it all, very clever, we are stupid, learn from you, we practice on our own.”
Ms. Wang said: “It’s not good to add words between the lines.”
The next day, when Ms. Wang arrived at the store for work, she was called in for a conversation with the store manager. The manager made a request, stating that she could stay at the Xiasha store or be transferred to another store, but regardless of where she went, she had to follow the leadership’s arrangements. The manager also said, “No complaints allowed, no speaking in the group chat, no expressing any opinions.” Feeling helpless, Ms. Wang chose to resign.
Unexpectedly, after she resigned, the company issued a surprising dismissal notice, listing three reasons for her dismissal:
1. Irresponsible to customers, leaving work when only serving customers for half the time until the end of the shift.
2. Complaining about the annual meeting rehearsal, not following company arrangements, and confronting the store manager in the group chat.
3. Work attitude on regular days does not comply with company behavior norms.
Feeling helpless, Ms. Wang said, “I just resigned normally, why did they issue such a dismissal notice?” She then decided to gather evidence and apply for labor arbitration.
Dismissal of employees by a company has statutory conditions and restrictions. Is it reasonable to dismiss an employee for refusing to dance? Is “dancing after work” considered part of the job or an additional requirement for employees?
According to the report, the company where Ms. Wang worked is a beauty institution, and dancing is obviously not the “main business.” It should be considered an entertainment activity organized by the company outside of employee’s main job responsibilities, or corporate cultural activities.
Article 36 of China’s Labor Law stipulates that the daily working hours of employees shall not exceed 8 hours, with an average weekly working time not exceeding 44 hours. Ms. Wang explained that on that day, she started work at 9 a.m. and ended at 9 p.m., which already exceeded the national standard. Asking for “overtime dancing” after work hours was clearly an extra requirement. Arranging for employee participation in company activities during their rest time raises legal concerns, and dismissing an employee for refusal clearly crosses the line.
The report mentioned Ms. Wang’s dismissal and the company’s “dismissal notice,” citing “work attitude not in line with company behavior norms” as one of the reasons. Based on chat records, Ms. Wang’s language was relatively calm — “Can things be arranged in advance and not notified last minute.” By common sense judgment, such language should fall within the scope of normal communication and not show any obvious verbal violence. The demands made by company management during the conversation with her to “completely obey management” and “not speak in the work group chat” seemed unreasonable. Companies and employees need to understand each other because they are mutually dependent; companies should provide employees with enough care and understanding, ensuring employee’s personal interests while achieving corporate benefits.
A labor contract is not a “sale of self-contract,” and companies cannot hold the privilege to “live or die” over employees based on a piece of paper.
The topic made it to the hot search list on December 25th. Some netizens commented that the incident occurred in 2021, and the topic resurfaced now, suggesting that labor arbitration has reached a conclusion. However, the Chinese media reports did not mention details on the arbitration results.
“Robbery Heart Prince”: The matter happened in 2021, and the arbitration is only reaching a conclusion now, it should be like this.
“I Love Eating 400”: Companies can hold annual meetings, but it’s best not to occupy employees’ rest time. If held during the break, employees should be allowed to bring family members or children. Forcing employees to set aside family matters during rest time for entertainment is not humane.
A survey showed that over half of the workforce does not expect annual meetings. According to a report released by a recruitment platform in 2023 titled “2023 Workplace Annual Expectation Survey Report,” among urban frontline workers, 54% of respondents did not expect annual meetings.