Facebooking while out sick gets employee fired
Updated at 5:08 p.m. PDT with quotes from former Nationale Suisse employee.
CNET previously reported that Facebook users risk having a lower GPA. Now, according to Reuters and other sources, using the social-networking site could have another unpleasant side effect: getting you fired. At least that's what happened to a Swiss insurance worker who lost her job after surfing Facebook while out sick, her employer said Friday.
The unnamed woman said she had to be away from her monitor lying in the dark, but was then seen to be active on Facebook. Insurance company Nationale Suisse said in a statement that behavior 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," a spokesman for the firm said.
The woman admitted to having used Facebooked on her iPhone, but accused the insurance company of spying on her by sending a mysterious friend request that made the company see her activities. The company denied the accusation and said a colleague stumbled over her activity, before Nationale Suisse banned use of the popular site in the company.
But she said she is not suing the company and that she is happy to have gotten a neutral termination letter and doesn't want to go back. "My trust for this employer is gone," the 31-year-old woman told Swiss daily newspaper 20 Minuten.
"Facebook is dead for me," she added.
This isn't the first time we've heard a discussion about losing a job due to Facebook use. Those scared of that destiny might want to watch this CNET TV video: Don't let Facebook get you fired.
Doesn't change the fact that an employee who is happier at work is going to do more work, compared to an employee that is constantly looking at his watch, waiting to go home. We don't live in an age where every time your done with work, you can see it. Be proud of it, in a computer age, when you make pie charts or fill out spreadsheets. You can't take pride in that because it doesn't amount to anything, to some it may again i make no absolute assumptions. In this society we are expected to sit in front of chairs and do work that morally doesn't make us feel complete.
Work on a farm, do physical labor that you can see, touch and enjoy. You will love your job and be happy, this is why employees seek out Facebook on the job, they can't do anything else that makes them happy sides message a buddy about happier hour cause work sucks.
But if you take away the restirction, and permit employees to check if they want everyonce 'n awhile ecause it brings them a little light, a smile to their face and know they won't get fired. Then why not? yu can set up abuse policies, and such for over use. God knows as a System Admin myself you can tell how long someone is on a site.
Companies need to find a way to make the employee get lost in their work cause they enjoy it. Obviously this will not work for everyone. But about 90% is probably pretty close to what you can get.
People want to be People, not slaves. This is what money has done to our Global Society. Something that needs to be fixed. A dollar is never more important than another human, period.
P.S Former Marine, working for the Government sucks Lmao
OTOH, this employee was stupid - you don't lie to the boss as to why you're not at work and expect to keep your job.
Maybe she logged on for a few minutes to update something, or leave a message before going back to bed.
It's pretty hard to say she lied with so little information. I think the benefit of the doubt should have been the order of the day.
Firing her because she was caught on Facebook is a little extreme. Especially since the company may not have all the information.
I think she made an error when telling her boss her exact condition. If she really was sick, she could have said, I'm sick. I'll bring a dr. note. In America, you don't have to disclose the reason why you're sick.
but I still think the company's more at fault, they complately overreacted, and spied at least to some extent, I wouldn't want to work there either if I was her
It's not unusual, or even that uncommon - I was well enough to get some work done, but didn't much feel like spreading the love (read: germs) at work.
have you ever noticed the difference in screen size between a normal monitor and the iPhone? I can see being able to look at the iPhone screen when the full size monitor hurts my eyes. It's like needing a break from looking at the computer screen so you go watch some TV.
From the above article "The unnamed woman said she had to be away from her monitor lying in the dark, but was then seen to be active on Facebook"
She was on facebook hence she didn't 'have to be in the dark averting her eyes from all glowing things. Therefore she lied and thus she was fired.
I myself am paid a salary wage. Which I routinely work 45 - 55 hours a week. So if I miss a day at work and work from home... it's still paid. Or if i'm really sick and cannot work... I stay at home and recover. Doing whatever I want...
It's not healthy to never be able to take a nonproductive sick day.
Besides, just because you have all that junk you have to do, doesn't mean everyone else has.
Still an employer that fires people for using Facebook while sick is not an employer one wants to work for. I think it is a bogus charge. I'll bet her co-workers use Facebook while at work as does her managers, and that is how they knew she was on Facebook.
She worked in an insurance company... she violated the trust... if you cant compute at work dont compute at home...
The company denied the accusation and said a colleague stumbled over her activity, before Nationale Suisse banned use of the popular site in the company.
Apparently the use of facebook is banned by the company, and a colleague stumbled on her activity before hand. I could see why a company woudl ban its employees from using it, a lot of information can be gleaned from peoples' accounts if they're ridiculous and 1) have an open profile and 2) accept any and all invites for friends.
What's next? Am I not allowed to drive to the local Walgreens or Rite Aid to pick up some medicine because I'm afraid that the boss may send a coworker to spy on me because I should be too sick to drive? That's why the employer provides "sick days" so that one can stay home, rest and relax to get better. Calling out sick does not mean that you're on your death bed and incapable of leisure activities.
If you were my coworker and you were sick, I'd prefer you to stay home as well. The boss must have been a micromanaging a**hole.
An employee is out sick and someone at their job just "happened to notice" that they were "logged into Facebook? Unless I'm missing something, the only way you can SEE if someone is logged into Facebook is to BE LOGGED INTO FACE BOOK !! In addition to that, you can't "come across someone being logged into Facebook unless they are on your friend list because if they are not, you have to actively search for them. So yea, she was spied on by someone who ratted her out to the boss, probably thinking that it would get them some sort of reward. More important than the fact that someone at her job spied on her to determine if she was logged into Facebook, she wasn't onsite at her job nor was she using her workplace computer to access Facebook. Maybe the laws are different in Europe, but here in the USA, if my employer fired me for being logged into Facebook while OUT OF THE OFFICE AND ON MY CELL PHONE, I would sue the pants off them and win a huge settlement, while dragging them down in the media for being idiots. She should sue.
And yes, you are very clever, you noticed that you had to be logged into facebook to sww if she was logged in. If you had actually read the article you'd have read that at the time the employer wasn't preventing people from using facebook while at work.
If she took her medicine, maybe even took a nap and a snack, she could be up and around by late afternoon. Offices have that horrid lighting, and it is torture for migraines, as are computer screens. Especially if your employer has no intention of working with you about your work environment.
I suffer from migraines, and on a bad day I am in bed until after dark. On an OK day I may only sleep a few hours after I take my pills. Before you ask, no, I would not try to work taking one of these pills. Many of them are so strong that you are legally intoxicated after taking one, and even the milder ones can impair cognitive function.
I was fired from a job when my Store Manager, and the Corporate office, refused to accept 'Migraine' as a valid reason for a sick day. Under pressure to not miss another day of work I went to work after taking one of my pills. I do not remember that day, at all, but was accused of something that ultimately got me fired. I do not drink, nor do I use drugs.
So, maybe all of the employers and supervisors out there will learn a lesson. If you need to, talk to their doctor, get it in writing, but don't assume that people on painkillers or similar medications should come in to work. They seriously impair cognitive function, and there is no telling what they may do or say. You would not allow a drunk to carry out million dollar deals, to drive a fork lift, to reliably fill orders, or to drive a company truck.
But isn't that supposed to be a skill so valuable to industry, OReilly holds camps with games that are designed to improve this career critical social skill?
- by April 29, 2009 12:44 PM PDT
- You all are missing the point... What she was really fired for was using her cell phone while she was out sick. THATS the outrageous part of it. Think about it, you're laying there in bed, your phone dings cause you got an email or you just finished a phone call, and while its in your hand, you checked one of the apps you use on the phone. BOOM you're fired.
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- by miles4444 April 30, 2009 8:50 PM PDT
- I agree 100%.
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