In January 2025, the Workers’ Daily reported on Ms. Wang, a beautician at the store of a health company in Hangzhou. After twelve hours at work, she planned to go home at 9 p.m. Her leader told her to stay and rehearse a dance for the annual party. She ignored the instruction and went home.
The next day, the store manager offered to keep her on, on three conditions: “No complaints, no speaking in the group chat, no opinions of any kind.” She resigned. The company then issued a dismissal notice. The reason it gave was dingzhuang lingdao, talking back to the leader.
The Labor Contract Law lists the grounds on which an employer may dismiss someone. The article’s author argued that disagreeing with a manager is not among them.