Staff punished for skipping work to watch Avengers

Almost the entire office of employees at a Chinese firm have been punished for skipping work to watch box office hit Avengers: Endgame.

China’s Communist Party ‘discipline officials’ went for a surprise check at a state heating firm after a tip-off last month and found just two employees working. The rest of the staff, including a director, had skipped work for a few hours to see the popular superhero movie.

Director Zhang Dexin was given a warning and transferred to another job, while the company’s managing director, Han Dong, was told to make a “self-criticism” at a board meeting.

“The entire staff of Heihe Thermoelectric Group’s customer service centre skipped work to watch a film, creating a bad influence,” said the city commission. “It shows there is a lack of daily supervision within the company and not enough ideological and political education of party members.”

Following the discovery, public organisations have used the heating firm as an example and discussed the cautionary tale along with an anticorruption report as a means to tighten discipline.

Several management committees have also set meetings to discuss how to prevent similar issues in the future, reported the South China Morning Post.

In such a scenario, how should HR handle the situation?

Whether a case of misconduct requires a reminder, caution, warning or dismissal, Zacharias Rajagopal, director of human resources at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, told HRD that leaders should consider the “binding relationship” with the employee and aim to talk it out first.

Following a proper investigation, even if the employee chooses to resign instead of staying and facing a disciplinary action, HR still has the responsibility to “help them” by pointing out the misconduct so that they can avoid it in their next job.