What is "bossnapping"

n. A means of social action in which staff kidnap or surround a corporate executive until demands are met.

Bossnapping is a form of lock-in where employees detain management in the workplace, often in protest against lay-offs and redundancies, and has especially been carried out in France. The term gained wide usage in the media following a series of bossnapping incidents in the spring of 2009 in France where workers used the tactic in the context of widespread labor unrest resulting from the late 2000s recession.

These incidents resulted in a public call for an end to the practice by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, despite public opinion polling which showed widespread sympathy for the protesters.