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Former Singaporean actress Sharon Au got in trouble with French HR for emailing colleague at 8pm

The former actress and TV host experienced work culture shock during her first few months working at a firm in Paris. — Picture via Instagram/sharonau13
The former actress and TV host experienced work culture shock during her first few months working at a firm in Paris. — Picture via Instagram/sharonau13

PETALING JAYA, Oct 16 — Former MediaCorp actress Sharon Au, who is currently working in Paris, revealed that she has gotten warnings from her company’s human resource (HR) department on more than one occasion.

The trigger? Contacting her colleagues after work hours.

The 44-year-old, who migrated to Paris last year, shared with 96.3FM the hurdles she had to overcome when familiarising herself with French working culture.

Having once labeled herself as a “workaholic”, Au didn’t think much of it when she decided to fire off an email to a colleague at 8pm.

She later discovered that the colleague in question had taken a screenshot of her email and reported her to HR for alleged harassment based on French labour laws.

As it was her first week at the firm, Au got off with a minor warning letter but committed a similar blunder three months later when she texted a colleague at 11pm about work.

HR got wind of the matter once again but instead of reprimanding Au, they were worried that she had “no life” after work and gave counselling sessions to her.

The team even volunteered to sign her up for yoga classes and even offered her movie tickets to encourage her to cultivate a better work-life balance.

Au also mentioned how her colleagues began inviting her out for meals following the incident, a gesture that she appreciated as it displayed their concern for her mental well-being outside of the office.

The I Have A Date With Spring star said that she plans to remain in France for another five to six years and that she hopes to return to her home country with some new accomplishments on her list.

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