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Barcelona supermarket fires employee for working too much

The Local Spain
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Barcelona supermarket fires employee for working too much
File photo of a Lidl store not related to the story. Photo: Chet Strange/Getty Images North America/AFP

A branch of Lidl in Barcelona fired one of its employees of 12 years for working too much by turning up early for shifts to get the store in good shape.

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According to El Pais, the eager worker named as "Jean P" used to turn up for work as much as an hour early and start to "prepare the shop before it opened". His termination notice for "very serious labour breaches" stated that without signing in to work, Jean had "made orders, changed prices or replenished entire pallets of items".

The Catalan branch of the German supermarket noticed from security camera footage how in April of this year, the eager beaver turned up at the store at 5am and spent "between 49 and 87 minutes" working without being signed in. As a consequence he was breaking the grocer's strict rules of paying employees for every minute worked and making sure hours are properly logged.

The company also said it received complaints from other employees that he suggested they should also turn up early.

The disgruntled supermarket worker has taken his former employer to court arguing that his dismissal is unfair and he should be given the job back. Jean P argued that he did not ask other workers to turn up early, was never told that turning up early wasn’t permitted, and he only did so because the store had recently been reorganized and extra time was required to get the shop floor ready.

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