A labor court in Alicante, Spain, has upheld the dismissal of a 22-year-old logistics company employee who appealed after being fired for repeatedly arriving to work too early.
According to Spanish media reports, the employee routinely showed up between 6:45 and 7:00 a.m., despite her employment contract specifying a 7:30 a.m. start time. The company documented 19 early arrivals and said that even after an oral warning and a written notice, the worker continued to come in before her scheduled shift.
Supervisors testified that no work could be performed before 7:30 and that her early presence “disrupted team coordination.” In court, the company argued that the employee “did not take the warnings seriously and did not change her behavior.”
The company also cited Article 54.2 of Spain’s Workers’ Statute, which lists insubordination, disobedience and repeated noncompliance with instructions as grounds for dismissal without compensation. The judges accepted the company’s argument, emphasizing the employee’s continued refusal to follow directives and ruling that the resulting loss of trust, combined with the lack of operational need for her early presence, justified the termination.
The case sparked a wave of reactions on Spanish social media. “This is the first time I’ve heard someone could lose their job for arriving early. At my workplace the boss would turn you into a statue,” one commenter wrote. Another added: “If you’re late, they’re angry. If you’re early, they’re angry.”
The employee may still appeal to a higher labor court, although she has not yet announced whether she will pursue further legal action.