[‎USER]

My previous employer went on a spy hunt looking for you to be off a compuree (work from home). Fired over 200 people for using the space bar to look present on teams.

Some of us did our jobs but because of micromanagers who did nothing we would have to look like we were there even when we used the computer.

Perfect evals and met all our numbers but let us go rather than laying off and having to pay $$.

They did another round but warned employees not to use space bar and then didn’t fire them.

A bunch of us were older as well. Is this discrimination if they fired some but not the others.

They basically ruined our careers when we were good employees.

[Patrick]

No idea about discrimination but that sounds like an awful place to work.

I’d be looking for a new job.

[Holt]

My employer went through this about 2 years ago for abuse of work from home. Some of us got let go on the spot.

Others were kept but given no raise or bonus for the entire year.

We were told they can tell based on your IP address where you log in at.

I had no one to blame but myself. So do you. Sorry. Hard lesson to learn. Was for me too.

[Cheryl]

I’m too damn busy to fake working…LOL. I’m on back-to-back-to-back calls all day, then when those are done, I get my “day” job done.

[Bill]

A.I. is going to make a lot of jobs unnecessary. Knowing that this is coming quickly (in the next 1-2 years), I would encourage everyone to get back to the office, and get to know your supervisors and company leadership.

It’s much harder to fire or terminate employees that you have built personal friendships with in the office.

[Matthew]

If goals were being met
They likely needed a reason to fire (reduce labor costs) or force folks back into the office

Proving that is another matter
Were they a large company?

There are some government things like WARN act

[Andrea]

Teams are crazy. That thing will turn yellow if you are inactive for the shortest period of time or only working in pdfs, etc.

[Martina]

I’m honestly surprised by the number of folks here upset by the space bar trick. Most office workers are not employed to sit at a computer 8 hours a day, they are employed to perform a job.

If it takes you 5 hours to complete the job and your neighbor 9 hours, should you be obligated to deliver extra work because you’re more efficient?

If you’re an hourly employee, sure. But if you’re salaried, I find that hard to justify.

The same way when there are crunch times and you’re expected to work late without extra compensation, it balances out.

As a people manager I always tell people to get their job done I’m not watching over their shoulder to monitor if they’re on the Internet during work hours.

No one said these employees were using the space bar trick 8 hours a day, it could have been 1 hour.

[Himlova]

Our company has a policy that they do monitor computer activity…so, if you try to play games, you lose. I’ve worked from home for 27 yrs….am I on the computer 100% of the time? No. Our jobs have flexibility.

So, if I make a trip to Walmart, etc to shop during the day, I make up for it (I’m salaried).

I might work through lunch or, like today, start a little earlier to allow myself time throughout the day to take extended break periods.

But, at the end of the day, they’re paying me to get a job done and to work a minimum set of hours.

All these companies had to put these policies in place due to all of these ppl trying to have two jobs during the same work hours, committing fraud, and bragging about it.

[Joe]

Lots of corporate bootlickers here. Apparently you must work 8 hours straight without blinking or else your stealing from the poor unfortunate royalty that so generously share their hard earned and definitely well deserved wealth by employing you to work for them out of the goodness of their pure hearts.

Who cares about the quality of the work or if the goals are met.

If you finish your work early you must ask for more work even if there isn’t any at the moment.

I’m sure you can find some pointless busy work that wastes people’s time.

Your lords deserve nothing less. And don’t think about working as slowly as your coworkers. You’re not rewarded for being good at your job.

The only thing you owe is your undivided devotion for 8 hours straight, 5 days a week for your entire life.

[Jamie]

People being fired for not looking “active” would probably have chance at fighting, especially if there were employer reviews that documented metrics were being met.

It doesn’t sound like that’s why people were fired though.

Using tricks is inappropriate always and is grounds for firing. In the future, don’t use tricks.

Own up to needing to use the bathroom, taking a short break, etc.

Deception isn’t the answer even if the company is annoying and micromanagy.

[Kris]

If goals were being met, what was the reason for being let go? Do they have proof that you were abusing company time?

In the end it sounds like a terrible place to work.

[Kim]

If you were working but also needing to press the space bar to look active on teams then that should have been brought up to managers and/or HR whenever that issue came about.

It doesn’t make sense to be actively working but also needing to fake being active on teams (while literally working).

It’s a bad system but it needed to be addressed in writing before this.

If there is an employer expectation that you can’t fulfill and then you try and fake fulfill it, that seems fireable to me.

If I had an unrealistic employer expectation I would address it with my employer.

[Bill]

I’m not understanding how the space bar was being used, but it, sounds like the employer caught you pretending you were working/present when you weren’t and you were terminated.

It doesn’t matter if you were fired and others weren’t.

How will you overcome the allegation that you were stealing from the company, by collecting a salary, but not working the hours that you were being paid for? Technically, that is fraud.

[Angela]

I think you should contact an attorney on the discrimination question. I think I understand that your company decided to use activity in Teams as an indicator that people were busy.

And that some or a lot of your work didn’t involve Teams so it looked to them like people weren’t working.

If your employees don’t use Teams for 100% of their work, then it’s not a good way to track work.

[Lynne]

Wait folks don’t be working when working from home?
Because from the time I clock in until I clock out.

I got stuff the do.
And how does using the space bar work?

[Brian]

What job is this where they are deciding how much you’re doing based on keyboard movements?

I worked “in an office” for 34 years. Over that time, I was judged on how much I delivered, regardless of how much time I worked, when I worked, etc.

I never worked anywhere where they could determine your activity by measuring mouse clicks and keyboard activity.

What kind of work is this?
I was treated like an adult. If I had to go to a doctors appointment in the middle of the day, or go out for a run, it’s ok. Supported. Recommended, even.

Sometimes (often), I’d have to get back online after dinner to keep up.

Very simple, I had to do what was needed, or flame out. I almost always had more work than I could do without working extra time.

[Susan]

It’s my understanding that if you are over 40 they legally have to provide a list along with ages of those let go and retained as part of a RIF.

This is part of the Older Worker’s Benefits Protection Act (OWBPA) which is a part of the ADEA.

An employment attorney could probably speak more to this.

As for firing for cause, how did they have proof who was doing the space bar trick and who wasn’t?

[Alice]

If they only fired older people, that could be considered discrimination.

If they fired people for not doing their job (holding the space key) – not discrimination.

[Yepes]

I’m sprry you went through that but I cannot understand how it happened.. like it is extremely normal to work from home and setep away to out a load of laundry or something.. did they go to your house and you weren’t at the house?

[Brenda]

There might be age discrimination involved but it’s pretty tough to prove.

On the other side, it’s pretty easy for your employer to prove that you faked actually working.

I do t think this is a suit anyone would be willing to take on nor do I see how you could claim to be a good employee if you’re faking work.

[Timothy]

I would talk to a labor lawyer about the possibility that your exemption classification not being correct.

If you were exempt how you accomplish your work is one of the primary tests against making someone exempt.

And while you were using the space bar, you were still available for work.

If you find someone who may be creative in the space, you could be owed backpay as an hourly worker and overtime.

[Author]

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