A Chinese man was terminated by his company for taking excessively long toilet breaks which lasted up to six hours on some days. As reported by the South China Morning Post, the employee, identified as Mr Wang, had sought legal action against his employer and claimed unfair termination.

However, even the Chinese courts ruled in favour of the employers, refusing to accept Wang’s appeal.

As per the SCMP report, Wang joined the company in April 2006 and had been working as a regular employee till 2014. Wang’s troubles began in December 2014, when he underwent treatment for an ‘anorectal problem’, which became the cause for his frequent restroom visits.

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Despite his treatment being successful, Wang complained that he continued to experience persistent pain which forced him to spend between three and six hours every day in the restroom starting from July 2015.

According to the official records obtained from the unnamed company in the Tianjin state of China, Wang, for instance, used the loo over 20 times in nearly just a week from September 7 to September 15, 2015.

Wang was dismissed from the company in September 2015 as the employers cited their rules and Wang’s tardiness for his termination. The company further stated that Wang remained absent from work without prior approval and used to leave the office early.

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Disgruntled after losing his job, Wang then filed for arbitration, requesting the continuation of his non-fixed-term labour contract and reinstatement of his post. The labour dispute eventually went to a higher court.

However, Wang’s efforts went in vain as the court ruled in favour of his employers and stated that his termination was beyond reasonable physiological needs. The court added that the employer’s decision of terminating Wang was “legal and justified”.

Wang's termination story created a lot of buzz on Chinese social media.

Most of the users posted in favour of the employer. One user said “Spending four hours out of an eight-hour working day in the lavatory? What employer could accept that?” as quoted by SCMP.

Another user quipped, “It’s like being paid to use the loo."

"Being sick deserves sympathy, but one should not use it as an excuse. If such employees were to win, restrooms would be overwhelmed," said another.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)