Time theft has become a polarizing concept in employment law.
The basic premise of time theft is that engaging in personal pursuits while being paid to work is wrong and employers can terminate employees (for cause, in some cases) or seek reimbursement for lost time, if proven.
Striking the right balance between employee autonomy and employer expectations has roused significant debate across courts in Canada, including in the case of Reach CPA Inc., where Reach CPA was actually awarded damages against a former employee after a tribunal found she engaged in time theft.
Allegations of time theft fell flat, however, in the recent British Columbia case of Chu vs. China Southern Airlines. Paul Chu was employed mostly as a Marketing and Business Development Manager at China Southern Airlines (CSA) from 2008 to 2019.
Starting in March of 2018, the court found Chu was demoted a number of times — first to a customer service position and then to an airport services worker — and was also given a pay reduction of 25%. CSA terminated Chu in early 2019 alleging it had cause for immediate termination claiming incompetence and time theft. The termination letter contained no details of the alleged time theft.
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