'Well I got fired yesterday...': Worker fired for $200 of "time theft" resulting from unauthorized breaks taken over two years

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Feb 16, 2023 9:00 AM EST

Smokers often attract the attention of their coworkers due to the obscene number of "short" breaks they take to "step outside" for a moment and satisfy their addiction. From the perception of their desk-bound coworkers, these breaks often total obscene amounts of time over the course of weeks or months. To make matters worse, when the boss smokes too, it can often feel like you're falling behind and being disadvantaged when it comes to the complex socio-political inter-workings of corporate life.

But let's be honest here—how many of us are guilty of taking small breaks from our work to browse Reddit, check on our other socials, or just… dissociate. No one in an office is working for their full eight hours; that's the type of torture reserved for retail workers and the service industry.

If this worker only managed to accrue $200 worth of "stolen" time over the course of months and years—well… they might be one of the most responsible smokers I've witnessed; they might even be one of the most responsible workers I've seen. Period.

That didn't stop their workplace from firing them after an internal loss prevention audit. As readers have commented, it's likely that someone somewhere had it out for them already, or they were just being scapegoated and made as an example to try and increase the productivity of other workers.

All is well that ends well; the original poster returned with an update-edit to their post, sharing that they had been hired back as a supervisor at a previous employer.

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Keep reading to see the original post below. For more, check out this employee that quit after being ridiculed by their boss when they donated their time on their day off to help the boss's friend.