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A woman in an office. (symbolic image)
Annette Riedl/dpa
A young employee in Spain arrived at work well before the start of her shift for months. The company dismissed her - and has now been proven right in court. The case also raises questions about the situation in Switzerland.
Dismissal for excessive punctuality? What sounds absurd at first has now occupied a court in Spain.
For months, a 22-year-old employee of a logistics company regularly arrived at work well before her official start time. Instead of arriving at 7.30 am, she was often on site between 6.45 am and 7 am.
According to media reports, the employer repeatedly made it clear that no tasks were due before the start of the shift and that the employee should not arrive early. Verbal warnings were followed by a written warning. Because the young woman nevertheless continued her behavior, she was finally dismissed without notice.
The competent court made it clear that the dismissal was not due to particular diligence.
Rather, the decisive factor was that the employee had repeatedly ignored clear instructions from her employer. The reasons for the ruling refer to "disobedience", "disloyalty" and a breach of trust.
In addition, the recording of working hours apparently played a role. According to reports, the employee was already recorded in the system before starting work, even though she was not yet scheduled to work.
An identical case in Switzerland would not automatically lead to dismissal. However, labor law experts point out that employers are allowed to set binding start and end times for working hours.
In addition, Swiss companies are legally obliged to record and document their employees' working hours correctly. The start and end of working hours and, in some cases, breaks must be clearly recorded.
If a person simply arrives at the office early, has a coffee or waits until the official start of work, this would not usually be grounds for dismissal.
The situation is different if working hours are recorded incorrectly or employees deliberately record times when they are not yet working. Such cases can be classified as working time fraud and have consequences under employment law.
The Spanish case therefore shows one thing above all: it was not the early arrival that was sanctioned, but the repeated disregard of company regulations.
The same applies in Switzerland: anyone who persistently ignores the employer's instructions or provides false information when recording time risks consequences under employment law. However, whether a dismissal would be lawful must always be assessed on the basis of the specific circumstances.
