Man Sues Workplace for Having to Reply to Work-Related Messages After Office Hours, Wins RM19,000

A man in China sued his workplace and demanded overtime pay for his work from December 21, 2019, to December 11, 2020. 

Throughout this period, the man, Li, said that he had been communicating with his colleagues through WeChat for work purposes even after he had clocked out. What ground his gears was when his employer did not constitute this as overtime.

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After the trial, the court fixed that the time Li spent after working hours should be constituted as overtime because it was considered different from the general communication during working hours.

Therefore, the court sentenced the company to pay Li RMB30,000 (approximately RM19,000) in overtime pay. One way to see it is that Li managed to get his overtime pay worth RM19,000.

According to a report, this case is the first case in China that falls under the issue of “invisible overtime”, which conforms to the changing trend of labour patterns in the digital age. It aims to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the workers.

Fellow Malaysian employers, what do you think of this? As for the employees, do you reply to work messages at night when you’re comfortably tucked in bed?

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