'Mouse jigglers' pretending to work get fired

[Kyng]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjll01220yeo

US banking giant Wells Fargo has sacked a number of employees following claims that staff were faking keyboard activity to fool the company into thinking they were working when they were not.

It is not yet clear how the issue was discovered or whether it was specifically related to people working from home.

The US bank said staff had been fired or resigned "after review of allegations involving simulation of keyboard activity creating impression of active work".

New rules recently came into effect in the US which mean that brokers working from home must be inspected every three years.

A spokeswoman for the firm said: "Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behaviour."

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Wow, how long was this going on for ? I get that it's probably not feasible for a large company to monitor every employee closely - but, I assume it wouldn't take them too long to find out if work wasn't being done...

Hopefully, this won't lead to rights and privileges being rolled back for other employees .

[~ True Legend ~]

Yeah, I didn’t think it feasible either. Although technically it’s allowed.

I’ve heard of instances where  employers just need to find a reason to get rid of employees with disabilities or mental health issues, so they start monitoring, which is technically legal. Wasting business hours is a valid reason to fire an employee, so the employee can’t fight back So just be careful, my friends!

[Kyng]

Yeah, I didn’t think it feasible either. Although technically it’s allowed.

I’ve heard of instances where  employers just need to find a reason to get rid of employees with disabilities or mental health issues, so they start monitoring, which is technically legal. Wasting business hours is a valid reason to fire an employee, so the employee can’t fight back So just be careful, my friends!

Yeah, that doesn't sound good .

However: if they're only monitoring the people with disabilities and mental health issues, and the only reason why they're monitoring them is because they have those issues - then, couldn't those employees make a case that they're being discriminated against? (It might be hard to prove - but in theory, I'd expect it to be possible...)

[~ True Legend ~]

Yeah, I didn’t think it feasible either. Although technically it’s allowed.

I’ve heard of instances where  employers just need to find a reason to get rid of employees with disabilities or mental health issues, so they start monitoring, which is technically legal. Wasting business hours is a valid reason to fire an employee, so the employee can’t fight back So just be careful, my friends!

Yeah, that doesn't sound good .

However: if they're only monitoring the people with disabilities and mental health issues, and the only reason why they're monitoring them is because they have those issues - then, couldn't those employees make a case that they're being discriminated against? (It might be hard to prove - but in theory, I'd expect it to be possible...)

That happened in Australia and the case succeeded but compensation was reduced to zero. Because the employee behaviour was deemed sufficient to justify dismissal. So the employee ends up with no reference, no monies and a tarnished reputation.  

I’m not commenting it’s good or bad, and I say this as an autistic girl myself, I’m saying it is what it is. It’s reality. Don’t give them a reason.