事件回顾

In July 2018, Liu Mou joined a Beijing-based technology company as a front-end developer, signing an open-ended 

employment contract with a start dateof July 2, 2018.

The company's Employee Handbook stipulates:

① Attendance hours comply with the provisions of the national Labor Law, implementing a flexible working system of 

5 dper week and 8 hours per day, with flexible adjustments to start and end times.

② Due to the special nature of the work,Time spent by employees engaging in fitness activities at company-designated locations is counted as part of the 8-hour workday.

③ Regarding fitness activities conducted during lunchtime, employees may proceed without prior approval from their 

superiors, with a dn of 2 hours considered reasonable.

④ For fitness activities conducted during other working hours outside of lunchtime, prior approval from a superior is 

required; otherwise, it will be considered as absence withave.

Around 13:05 on December 5, 2018, after exercising at a swimming and fitness center designated by the company, Liu 

Mou was found uncious in the locker room by gym staff. Despite subsequent medical efforts, Liu Mou was pronounced 

dead at approximately 15:24 on December 

On February 15, 2019, the company submitted a work-related injury identification application to the District Human 

Resources and Social Security Bureau.

O April 11, 2019, the District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau issued the contested decision not to 

recognize the injury as a work-related injury. It determined that Liu Mou's fatal injrred outside of working hours and at 

a location not considered a workplace, and thus did not meet the circumstances for deemed work-related injury under 

Item 1 of Article of the "Regulations on Work-related Injury Insurance." Consequently, it was not recognized as a 

work-related injury.

The company argues:

① According to the company's regulations, the time of incident was within working hours.

② The company is a high-tech military enterprise primarily engaged in computer R&D, with extremely high 

requirements for technical positions and significant work pressure on programmers.e company is well aware that good 

health leads to high efficiency, so it places great emphasis on employees' physical fitness. To this end, the company has 

successively rented nearby premisepany fitness facilities; therefore, the fitness venue should be considered within the 

scope of work.

③ In September 2018, due to a surge in business volume, the coy issued the "Emergency Overtime Management 

System," imposing higher demands on programmers' working hours and intensity. Liu Mou worked overtime almost 

every day and was under immense pressure. Furthermore,Liu Mou was 33 years old at the time of the incident, in the 

prime of his life, and possessed excellent physical fitness as a National Class II Athlete. As the confidential institution 

with surveillance cameras installed at the office location, after reviewing the surveillance footage of Liu Mou's activities 

on the day of the incident and interviewing colleagues, the company believes at Liu Mou's death was caused by sudden 

death due to high work pressure.

Subsequently, the company filed an administrative lawsuit with the court.

法院判决

An employee who dies suddenly during working hours and at their post is considered a work-related injury.

first trial

The court held that the focus of this case mainly lies in two points——

• Determination of Liu Mou's working hours

China's Labor Law does not provide a clear definition of the concept of working hours, but only stipulates the implementation of an 8-hour workday. It lly believed that Working hours are continuous and cannot be simply understood as labor time.

Generally, to determine whether a period of time constitutes working hours, factors such as whether the employee's 

activities during that time serve the purpose of the employer, are related to work content, and are subject to the 

employer's control and supervision should be considered comprehensively.

In this case, the company's employee handbook stipulates that time spent by employees exercising at 

company-designated locations is counted as part of the 8-hour working hours. Liu's exercise time on the day of the 

incident complies with the company's regulations regarding working hours, and also meets the criteria of being subject 

to company control and supervision, with the purpose of creating better benefits for the company; therefore, it should 

be determined that Liu was within working hours at the time of the incident.

• Determination of Liu Mou's job position

The determination of the workplace should be based on whether the activities performed by the employee are related to work.The workplace possesses a certain degree of flexibility and should not be confined solely to locations involved in production, operation, and training processes; areas related to employees' job responsibilities, as well as reasonably extended areas, should all be considered part of the workplace.

In this case, although Liu Mou was not at his regular workplace at the time of the incident, the company stipulated that 

a certain swimming and fitness center was an extension of the company's premises. Therefore, Liu Mou's fitness 

activities should not be deemed irrelevant to work, and it can be determined that he was within a reasonable area at 

the time of the incident. The District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau's view that Liu Mou's fitness activities 

were personal behavior unrelated to work is unsupported by evidence, and this Court does not uphold it.

In summary, Liu Mou's circumstances fall under the first item of the first paragraph of Article 15 of the *Regulations on 

Work-related Injury Insurance*, which pertains to sudden illness leading to death during working hours and at the 

workplace.

The judgment revokes the District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau's decision not to recognize the 

work-related injury and orders the Bureau to reprocess the company's application for work-related injury recognition.

Dissatisfied, the District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau filed an appeal.

In view of the characteristics of its industry and the special requirements of production and work, the company 

encourages employees to restore a good mental outlook and build a strique through exercise, and has specifically 

provided and designated fitness facilities for employees. The regulations regarding working hours in the Employee 

Handbook and the act of entering into agreements with fitness facilities are  at enabling employees to work more 

efficiently and healthily, and are directly related to promoting employees to better fulfill their job responsibilities. Liu's 

behavior should be regarded as work-relathe location of the incident can be recognized as the workplace.

In summary, Liu should be determined to have died after ineffective treatment for a sudden illness that occurred during 

working hours and at te workplace. This meets the provisions of Item 1 of Article 15 of the Regulations on Work-related 

Injury Insurance, and should be recognized as a work-related injury by analogy.

 judgment is as follows:The appeal is dismissed, and the original judgment is upheld.

This article is reprinted from the WeChat official account "Shandong High Court", and we express our gratitude!