Credit: David Adam Kess, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
A 22-year-old woman in Spain has lost her job after repeatedly arriving at work around 40 minutes ahead of her scheduled start time, despite being explicitly instructed for two years not to do so.
The employee’s shift officially began at 7:30 a.m., and her company had barred her from arriving between 6:45 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.
She was also prohibited from clocking in early or performing any work before the start of her shift. However, she continued to show up well before her scheduled time with no assigned duties waiting for her.
After multiple verbal and written warnings, the employer dismissed her for what it described as serious misconduct, arguing that her persistent early arrival was not an act of commitment but a repeated refusal to obey workplace rules.
The woman challenged the termination at the Social Court of Alicante, insisting that she had been unfairly dismissed. But evidence presented in court showed that she had ignored warnings and arrived early on at least 19 documented occasions. Records further indicated that she attempted to log into the company’s system using a mobile app on days when she had not yet even arrived at the office.
The employer also accused her of an unrelated breach of trust: selling a used company car battery without permission.
The court noted that this allegation strengthened the company’s case by illustrating a pattern of disloyal or noncompliant behaviour.
In its ruling, the court sided with the employer, concluding that the problem was not excessive punctuality but deliberate insubordination.
Judges held that her actions constituted a serious breach under Article 54 of the Spanish Workers’ Statute, which covers grounds for disciplinary dismissal.
The woman still has the right to appeal before the Supreme Court of Valencia, but for now, the judgment remains in effect.
