If someone is sleeping on the job or is asleep on the job, they are not paying attention to the things they should be doing. His arrest on suspicion of fraud proved that the other directors had been sleeping on the job. They accused ministers responsible for the new laws of being asleep on the job. Note: This expression is often varied. For example, you can also say that someone goes to sleep on the job or falls asleep on the job. When I got into the business, I found he had gone to sleep on the job. Was the publisher unable to afford an editor, or did he or she fall asleep on the job?