Boss Accuses Employee of “Wage Theft” for Clocking in for Work Meetings on Day Off

There are a lot of benefits for both employees and employers when it comes to working from home. Businesses can enjoy reduced overhead costs when it comes to costs like rent, utilities, insuring office furniture, in-house computer equipment, and various other expenditures, and employees no longer have to worry about the hassle of commuting to and from work.

However, with working from home, the idea of "office hours" can begin to blur, with folks getting accustomed to the "always on" mindset of working. Some managers can take advantage of this setup in order to call and check in with their workers and ask them questions or pick their brains about something even when they're technically not supposed to be on the clock.

This is what was happening to this Redditor, who eventually got fed up with their boss constantly reaching out to them when they weren't supposed to be working. So they decided that if they were going to work on their time/days off, then they may as well get paid for it. So they started clocking in and getting paid for those hours that their boss would talk to them for an hour or so on end.

As it so happens, their boss didn't really appreciate that they eventually found out what OP was doing. In a post titled "Got told I’m committing wage theft for clocking in when the boss calls me for hour-long meetings" that was uploaded to Reddit's r/antiwork sub, user @DannoWhamo delineated exactly what happened.

"Basically I got tired of spending my days off glued to my phone and laptop so I started logging hours outside of my work day that I am bothered with work-related issues."

They went on to say that their boss accused them of "stealing hours from him" before adding that they "never get any time to" themselves.

To make matters worse, OP's company wanted to know why they weren't bringing any deposits into the bank, even though they had previously put in for an approved day off for a "minor surgery" they were undergoing.

OP received a write-up because their company forgot he had put in for a day off on the day of his surgery. They added: "Did not sign the write up and asked them to show HR the write up so we could figure out what rule I violated during time off. They told me to forget it."

They concluded their post by stating that they weren't fired from their job for not signing the write-up they received, but ended it by stating "Yet at least," which doesn't really inspire much confidence that they'll keep their position or that they enjoy being at the company all that much.

Other Redditors who saw the post stated that OP's decision to clock in while being expected to work during unscheduled hours is a clear-cut issue: "Don't want me clocking in? Don't have me doing work. Want me to do work? Expect me to clock in."

Others stated that OP really shouldn't worry about the write-up as the company, according to their post, is in the wrong: "When they leave a paper trail of their wrongdoings, they're doing you a favor without even knowing it.

Never accept calls from work when it comes to being reprimanded for anything, get it in email/text."