Suddenly, we all feel bored with our jobs
A man was awarded €40,000 in damages from his employer after finding his job so boring that it resulted in some serious health complications.
In 2020, Frederic Desnard from Paris, France was awarded the pay out from Interparfums, a luxury perfume maker. Desnard was made redundant in 2014 after being on sick leave for seven months in what his lawyer Montasser Charni refers to as “bore out.”
‘Bore-out’ is related to burn-out but essentially occurs when a lack of engagement or mental underload eventually leaves you numbs. Desnard’s ‘bore-out’ eventually caused him to have an epileptic fit while driving, leaving him in a coma for several days, reports Le Monde.
Desnard showed “total devotion” to his job but was “sidelined” after the company lost a major contract, leaving him doing nothing more than “running errands for the president” of Interparfums.
The Frenchman only did around “20-40 minutes work each day” for four years, describing it as a “descent into hell.”
He explained: “I no longer had the energy for anything. I felt guilty and ashamed to earn a salary for nothing. I had the impression I was invisible at the company.”
‘Bore-out’ is not just being bored; in fact, it can have a severe effect on your health. Desnard’s lawyer, Victor Billebault, directly linked his client’s boredom to “the deterioration in his health”, reports the Telegraph.
However, defence lawyers claimed the employee “never said anything about being bored during the four-year period” and added, “if he actually had nothing to do over these years, why didn’t he mention it?”
Desnard continued his legal battle and lodged a complaint at a labour relations tribunal where he demanded €360,000 in damages. The court ultimately agreed that bore-out constituted a “form of harassment” and the Paris Appeal Court supported the case.
