It’s not always worth showing up to work late, as a case from Spain shows. Image: DPA
In Spain, an employee was dismissed without notice because she regularly showed up at work early, despite repeated warnings not to do so again. A Spanish court has now decided that the termination was legal.
June 9, 2026, 10:42 amJune 9, 2026, 10:44 am
Who doesn’t know the hard-working model employees who are in the starting blocks at least ten minutes before work starts and are waiting to start the day. What is usually welcomed by superiors can apparently also cost you your job, as the case of an employee of a logistics company from Spain shows.
Although the 22-year-old worker’s shift only begins at 7:30 a.m., for months she has arrived at the company at least half an hour to 45 minutes before work begins, reports the German magazine “Focus”. Even after her superiors pointed out to her several times that this was not desirable, the Spaniard is said to have regularly shown up at work too early. Since even a written warning had no effect, the company decided to fire its employee.
However, the stubbornly over-punctual 22-year-old did not accept the termination and went to court. This has now confirmed the dismissal and is supporting the logistics company. While the employee stated that her early arrival was simply a sign of her commitment, the court pointed out that she had disregarded company guidelines several times and ignored written and oral warnings.
Suspicion of working time fraud
According to the judges, it was a “serious mistake due to disobedience, disloyalty and abuse of trust,” as “Focus” writes. By entering the company premises too early, the employee who was responsible for checking transport and route allocation would have disrupted the internal order.
In addition to her commitment, the young Spaniard also stated that her high workload led her to arrive early on some days. However, reports indicate that the termination is primarily due to allegations of fraudulent working hours. Clocking in too early without actually doing any work could be viewed as a “classic case of working time fraud,” according to a specialist lawyer compared to the online portal LTO. (July)