comment: >
  
  There have been many times I was the only person at my desk while the rest of the team was playing ping-pong for hours. But I still would revolt if my company tried putting this software on my computer. I also don't do drugs but would refuse to work for companies that do random drug testing. Both are intrusive and creepy.
context: 50 hours over what kind of timeframe? Is it like, 50 hours over 6 months? Because that’s only about half an hour a day, and no one can tell me that they haven’t just absolutely wasted half an hour on the clock doing something stupid, or even nothing at all.
  The fact that the time frame isn’t mentioned is kind of chilling, because it leaves it to us, the readers, to determine who is in the right when we don’t even have a frame of reference for when the supposed “crime” occurred.
  The use of monitoring software or personal computers is a very uncomfortable idea, and the fact that companies can monitor your every second of activity and determine what you’re doing and for how long is certainly a big brother-esque line of monitoring.
  I think at the end of the day, businesses should only care about the results. If remote work lets people deliver the same results using less time, then adjust for that. But there’s no reason to do shit like this, when it’s a well known fact that corporate wage theft steals far more every year than someone taking a 20 minute shit on the clock >
  
  I waste half an hour every hour I’m at work >
  
  If you read this article there was clear admission of lying about logging hours by the employee. However, that aside I think software to track productivity is pretty garbage way in a lot of jobs to keep track of employees. Example, I do a ton of research as part of my job and often that's reading from books, or looking up things in hardcopy form that didn't come from my laptop. Also I do a fair amount of design or planning on a white board I keep next to my desk. Often my computer goes to sleep in those times but I'm definitely still working. Production metrics are way better measures of work than raw time in an application. >
  
  If a company hires me, they're paying for my work, not for a hypothetical platonic ideal employee's work. 
  That guy costs way more. >
  
  This is my problem with my current job. People are getting in trouble for fucking humming. >
  
  I have this problem with my singers! I pay them to sing and all they want to do is hum! 
  /s >
  
  I don’t understand why companies feel the need to put monitoring software in.   Assign work.  If the work is being completed in a timely manner then it shouldn’t matter it they spent 30 hours or 40 hours on it.   
  If the work is not being completed in a timely manner then figure out if more training is required or if the work load is too much.   If neither is the issue then put the employee on notice.  If it still doesn’t improve then fire them.   
  In none of these situations does it matter if the employee watched disney for 3 hours a day.  That would be found out just from seeing if the work is being completed.    
  edit: Quite a few people have said that I’m missing that she is hourly.  
  Even being hourly I still think an argument could be made that such a level of monitoring would still not be necessary.  If I ask someone to do a specific task then I should have an approximate idea of how long that task would take.  If they then bill me for far more time than I expect I should start asking detailed questions.   Bullshit isn’t often hard to detect.  
  If it continues then I’d either need to adjust my expectations or replace the worker.  We’ve all known people that drag their feet; both salary and hourly.   Good management should have regular status meetings with their employees so that this doesn’t go unnoticed or uncorrected.   
  The work I do requires a short daily meeting for a team of 10 people that takes about 15 minutes.   Some of our group is salary, some bill their 40 hours each week.  As a group we estimate the time frame the work can be completed in and as a group we divide up who does what.   During our daily status meeting we say how it’s going.  This method makes it very very difficult for anyone to drag their feet.   If someone is taking too long then we dig into why.    Sure someone could slide for a day or two but not any longer than that before the problem would be fixed.    
  None of this requires nanny software.   I still feel that nanny software is a crutch for bad management.  Maybe instead of constantly reading reports about how often a document is accessed or a mouse is moved they could just keep an open dialogue with their employees. >
  
  I agree in principal but that doesn't make it ok to commit fraud. I would not choose to work for a company that micromanaged my time like that but if it was the situation them I can't just make up hours I worked and bill the company for them. 
  Paying hourly for work like this only encourages poor and inefficient work.  Better to set a salary and expect the employee to finish the tasks assigned to them each day/week.  But that isn't the agreement she had when she started working >
  
  
  I can't just make up hours I worked and bill the company for them.
  
  Actually, that's exactly how most contractors do it. >
  
  Then we they get caught committing fraud they should have to pay.   Everyone else does it is a kindergarten excuse >
  
  
  and worry that it will normalize workplace surveillance, even when people return to the office. 
  
  This was normal before people left the office... >
  
  Wage theft by employers is the biggest money crime in the US. We will see stories like this, but nothing about the much larger crime of rich people stealing from workers. Par for the course in America >
  
  I got a check in the mail from a class action against a former employer for just that stealing break pay I think it was. It was a huge company. I never heard about it in the news anywhere. Just a check showed up in the mail one day didn’t even know it was coming. >
  
  They were probably getting sued and wanted to look good before trial came. >
  
  The redditors that defend corps who don't give a fuck about them are off-putting >
  
  That's why you just screw around with the mouse every 5 minutes while you're watching a movie at home. >
  
  I'm a sysadmin and have deployed these tools to clients in my last job. That's not gonna cut it, they'll track what you open, which windows are in focus, keyboard + mouse activity, files opened, etc. If they wanna get you with this, they're gonna get you. >
  
  Now do mechanic shop rates >
  
  sounds like the employer is the thief here. >
  
  Not sure why article belongs on this subreddit.  
  Maybe she shouldn't have misrepresented over 50 hours at work. >
  
  Yeah tracking software is really bullshit but like, how is an employee getting in trouble for submitting fraudulent timesheets a “not the onion” story? >
  
  Fuck that company, and fuck that general culture. When my job is done, I AM DONE. I can chill, boot up my steam deck and lay in my hammock. I've literally been woken up by my boss, and all he wanted was to bum a smoke. He knows that hardly anyone is willing to go and do what we do, and he takes care of us. We take a couple weeks to build entire festivals and tear it down and ship it back to the warehouse in less than 4 days.