Trust essential in remote working era, say experts, after time-theft ruling

Sandra Robinson, an organizational psychologist and professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, says offering flexibility to ensure a happy workforce is a key reason employers continue with remote or hybrid working arrangements, long after coronavirus pandemic restrictions have lifted.

Read: Head to head: Should employers worry about time theft with remote workers?

Yet she warns some tools that allow employers to monitor how their employees spend their time while working from home, such as software that continuously tracks a worker’s computer activity, could backfire by eroding trust. “One of the things I tell managers is, you know, one of the best ways to build trust is by being trusting, that trust gets reciprocated.”

Research suggests the less trusted an employee feels, the lower their sense of responsibility may be to their work, says Robinson, noting adults tend not to like being constantly monitored, so computer tracking software could cause unnecessary stressors or resistance among employees.

The monitoring of people working from home could also create unrealistic standards that aren’t even upheld in many office environments. “You don’t typically have someone who’s micromanaging what you’re doing, right? People talk at the water cooler, they go to the bathroom, they get lost in thought.”

Research shows people in many professions aren’t always “on,” delivering measurable work for eight or more hours straight, adds Robinson. “Our brains can only function so much, so do we actually end up maybe raising the standards that don’t even exist in the live workplace, because we want people to work like robots and only pay them when they’re ‘really’ delivering work?”

Read: Remote, hybrid work creating schism among employees

The B.C. tribunal decision, issued on Wednesday, found the accountant initiated a claim of $5,000 for unpaid wages and severance pay, arguing she’d been fired without cause last March. But the employer, Reach CPA Inc., submitted a counterclaim for wages and a portion of an advance it had paid, saying the software data showed a 50-hour discrepancy between her timesheets and computer activity over one month.

“Time theft in the employment context is viewed as a very serious form of misconduct,” wrote tribunal member Megan Stewart in the decision. The woman’s misconduct led to “an irreparable breakdown in her employment relationship with Reach,” she said, finding her dismissal was proportionate.

Vancouver lawyer Shafik Bhalloo, who specializes in labour and employment law, says the case is serious because submitting false hours amounts to fraud. “The act itself was serious enough to breach that duty of honesty an employee has in their relationship with the employer and trust was broken.”

However, he doesn’t believe the case will open a “floodgate” of employers suing employees over time theft, adding the woman’s fabrication sets her case apart from other activities, such as taking a personal call during working hours. “I’m working from home, I may have a pet, who may need my attention for a moment or two. I may get a personal call that comes in on the home line. I may have a gardener who needs instructions or a postman who comes to the door and I take time off that I wouldn’t be doing otherwise if I were in the office.”

Such activities don’t amount to just cause for firing unless they become habitual and the employee doesn’t heed warnings to rectify their conduct, he says, noting Canadian law is still in its “developmental stages” when it comes to handling disputes over working from home and that context will be key in court.

Read: 77% of employees believe remote, hybrid working improves well-being: survey