Facebook surfing while sick costs woman job

[Liberal_in_LA]

Facebook surfing while sick costs woman job
Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:29pm EDT

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53N4HH20090424e

ZURICH (Reuters) - A Swiss insurance worker lost her job after surfing popular social network site Facebook while off sick, her employer said Friday.

The woman said she could not work in front of a computer as she needed to lie in the dark but was then seen to be active on Facebook, which insurer Nationale Suisse said in a statement had destroyed its trust in the employee.

"This abuse of trust, rather than the activity on Facebook, led to the ending of the work contract," it said.

The unnamed woman told the 20 Minuten daily she had been surfing Facebook in bed on her iPhone and accused her employer of spying on her and other employees by sending a mysterious friend request which allows access to personal online activity.

Nationale Suisse rejected the accusation of spying and said the employee's Facebook activity had been stumbled across by a colleague in November, before use of the social network site was blocked in the company.

[Hekate]

1. When you call in sick you don't go to the beach no matter how much good you think the Sun'll do you

When you apply for worker's comp because of a bad back, don't go out in your front yard with a Roto-tiller.

Ai-yi-yi.

Hekate

[Egnever]

2. agreed

And you would be well advised to remember that what you do on the internet does leave a trail.

[DRoseDARs]

3. It's an interesting case, and your example is total crap.

She didn't have Waikiki in her bedroom. She was using a handheld device, her iPhone, which I imagine would be totally inappropriate for her to do official work for the insurance company on given that it's just an Internet-capable cellphone. What if she instead used an Internet-enabled TV? Last time I checked, people could use cellphones and TVs while lying in bed. Do you still knee-jerkingly side with the insurance company on this?

Any judge who's at least a little tech-savvy should rule against the employer on this easily. They over-stepped their bounds in taking action against her.

[Hekate]

6. I live next to a beach and used to work in Labor Relations in a non-management job...

A lot of stuff came across my desk. :eyes: Yes, including people who called in sick and were observed at the beach. They claimed it was for their health, but the surfboard might have been a clue as to their real intent.

An employee who calls in sick, even for a "mental health day," should craft their excuse to conform with an acceptable reality -- that's my way of saying, go ahead if you want to but don't be stupid. This gal said she needed to lie down in the dark. If she was just emailing her mother no one would have been the wiser without actually (and, one hopes, illegally) spying on her. Facebook is an open book-- Facebook is possibly like going to the beach.

Unlike the bosses, I believe in unions. Unlike most employees, I long ago learned just how much legal discretion bosses have over their employees, and I actually read the employees' handbook when I changed employers.

Your employer, for instance, has the right to forbid you to make or receive personal telephone calls at your desk. They can choose to not be a hardass about it, but legally it's their phone, their desk, and their time. Kind of a hardship for moms who want their kids to check in with them after school, and as a former single mom I really think that's a terrible policy. You won't find knee-jerk agreement with bosses from me.

Computer workers, which is nearly everyone at a desk these days, are legally entitled to very little privacy while on the clock. The computer belongs to the boss. They can count your keystrokes, keep tabs on how much time you spend with each customer, track your email and Internet usage, claim ownership of your emails to your boyfriend, and forbid you from using their computer and their time to do anything not related to the job. It's illegal to spy on you at home using your own equipment and your own time (my brother had a boss he suspected of installing spyware on his home computer; he left that job as soon as he could arrange it).

But I refer to U.S. labor laws. This woman lives in Switzerland and works there. I imagine they have a slightly different take on things and don't care what we think over here. I hope she gets her job back.

Hekate

[Skidmore]

4. Apparently that boss doesn't have enough

work to do. Why was he on Facebook anyway?

[Believing Is Art]

5. Fixed Link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE53N4JF20090424

Sounds like she had a migraine. I get those a lot. I couldn't stare at an iphone screen for a long period of time without feeling ill, but if she was only on for 5 minutes or something, that's not a big deal.

[Jeep789]

7. A colleague stumbled upon it while surfing Facebook

Wonder if the "colleague" was fired? Another good reason not to use Facebook or to answer questions about what you are sick with too explicitly.

[taterguy]

8. Or a good reason to work at a place where they trust you

My boss wouldn't waste any time "checking up" on me if I called in sick.

[AllentownJake]

9. There is probably more to this story

After 7 years in Corporate America, they might say they are firing you for one thing but the reality is you had been targeted for something else they can't fire you for.

At one company I worked at the new manager in one department wanted to bring someone who worked for him before so he simply started writing up the person who currently held the job for everything till eventually she quit before she would get fired. The year before she had an exceeds expectations rating from the previous manager.

Just so people who aren't showing any sympathy understand this shit goes on in Corporate America/Corporate World every fucking day. So she might have gotten hit for the Facebook thing or there might be more to the story.

[Hekate]

11. Oh, I agree--the system is rigged. nt

[get the red out]

10. You have to wonder what wasn't getting done at the office

because someone had to snoop on the lady that was home sick?

[bluebellbaby]

12. There usually is more to the story...Having Managed Stores...

I've heard so many reasons why people needed the day off...

We don't know if when she called in did the Company have a report or analysis that needed to be completed or submitted...that by her absence made this impossible...

We don't know...but her "facebooking" on her own time...then the Company claims it's a trust issue...makes me think "she was on her way out"...and they used this reason to get rid of her...

My question would be how did the employer get the records of "her facebooking" account to either confirm or deny what this other employee claimed, how did they know it was true....?

It's terrible...but it happens all the time...

Unfortunately...I see both sides to this...

I had an employee "call off sick" then came into the Store and was shopping...like nothing was wrong...then claimed after I terminated her that what she does on her own time is none of my business...

That point...what she does on her own time is really none of my business is true...

I only care when it affects the business I was running...then it's professional...not personal...

She didn't get unemployment...if she was "soo sick" she should have stayed home...like she claimed when she called off...

[ejpoeta]

13. sometimes even if your sick you need things. like, say, i was ill but

had run out of milk. chances are i might run into the gas station before i'd go in to walmart or something because i was sick. as for using facebook.... isn't it possible that a family member could have posted to this woman's account for her? nevertheless, i remember when i was working and i got like 1 week of vacation time. they don't give enough vacation time to people and sometimes you just need a day off! i don't know the particular circumstances here, but this just seems wrong to me.

[bluebellbaby]

14. I agree...my other post points this out...how did they confirm the report?

Needing a day off...God I understand that...before I was laid off due the company going bankrupt...I didn't have a day of in over 4 months...literally...I worked every day...unfortunately...

I do understand needing milk or stuff like that...really...and I do firmly believe in Unions...despite the fact that I was/am a manager...

And your point about a family memeber...absolutely what I thought..this company took someone else's word...we just don't know...maybe she admitted to it...

[ejpoeta]

15. another thing we don't know is.....

is there a history of calling in sick. this woman might have done it a lot and that might be why. i know my hubby has a coworker that seems to call in sick a lot. now, the red flag would be it's always fridays or mondays. lol. if you do it once in awhile i could see it, but if someone is doing it a lot (i admit i called in all the time when i worked at an egg packing plant after the only decent manager left.) man did i hate that job!! LOL!

[dysfunctional press]

16. "I didn't have a day of in over 4 months"..

you worked 7 days a week for four months?
that's against the law, and you should have sued your employer.

[bluebellbaby]

19. Yes, more... think...I'd love to but in NY isn't not illegal...I was a salaried Manager

And they went bankrupt...

I'd get nothing for it...and that's exactly what they wanted...I think...

[piratefish08]

17. I have lived/worked in Switzerland - let me shed some light.......

Switzerland, like much of Europe, has a VERY liberal work vacation plan. Speaking in general terms, most Swiss employees get AT LEAST 6 weeks of vacation per year and MANY receive 8+ weeks of vacation per year. They also have MANY more paid holidays than we have here in the US. I worked there for slightly over a year and had over 10 weeks off PAID for traveling and fun between my vacation time and state holidays.

In other words - they are given PLENTY of time to use for their "mental break" holidays. Sick days are for just that - real sickness. I worked with many people in Switzerland who had literally been YEARS without burning a sick day.

You have to be able to view this situation through the eyes of the employer for it to make any sense at all. When the employer said "This abuse of trust, rather than the activity on Facebook, led to the ending of the work contract," I am certain they meant exactly that. My observation was that people in Switzerland tended to value their careers, loyalty and the employer/employee relationship MUCH more highly than I have witnessed here in the US.

This story seems really sketchy to us reading it here, but I would be very surprised if anyone in Switzerland reading it was surprised at all.

[bluebellbaby]

20. This makes alot of sense!

Thanks for the insight...I know where I'm moving to...

[Hekate]

23. Thank you for the insight into the Swiss work ethic. And vacation plans >sigh

[MrPerson]

18. But face surfing would have been fine.

[BlooInBloo]

21. Sounds like teh stupid cost woman job.

[MedleyMisty]

22. I joined Facebook last week

and yeah, I was a bit scared of things like this and other privacy issues. I didn't list where I work and I've only friended one coworker - and I know I can trust him.

Oh, by the way, apropos of nothing - most of my friends are people that I went to high school with, in a mostly white relatively poor rural Southern small town. Not a single one has conservative or Republican listed as their political affiliation, and none of them are fundamentalists. Take that, South bashers!

But yeah, like a previous post says - the culture in Switzerland is very different and we shouldn't really judge based on our culture here. They actually get time off and aren't considered robot slaves there.

[depakid]

24. Facebook and Myspace are risky propositions period- as more employers are checking them

Large companies and government departments in Australia are employing a new Sydney-based company to dig up dirt on staff by spying on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube posts.

SR7 specialises in "online risk and reputation management" and claims to be the only company in Australia that actively monitors social networking sites on behalf of companies.

It was formed about eight months ago in response to the growing trend for people to take conversations they would have traditionally had with mates at the pub on to their social network profiles.

Few people realise these seemingly private sites are still public spaces. If controversial posts leak to the media, it can lead to brands suffering immense damage to their reputations.

SR7 director James Griffin said business was booming following recent public relations disasters sparked by the stupid social network behaviour of a few rogue employees. The firm's clients included "a number of blue-chip companies in a variety of industries" and "government departments and agencies".

This week, two Domino's employees were sacked and arrested after they published videos of themselves on the web fouling up customers' food. Late last year, three scantily clad Californian teens were fired from their jobs at KFC for publishing photos of themselves on MySpace bathing in a KFC basin.

But these are extreme cases, and there are scores of other instances where staff have been disciplined for seemingly innocuous posts, such as announcing in their Facebook status that they are tired of work.