Some employees at one of Canada\u2019s major telecommunications companies are out of a job after faking their workplace attendance.<\/p>\n
Bell Canada\u2019s parent company BCE Inc. said a handful of workers were found to be abusing the company\u2019s attendance policy, which requires employees to be in the office three days a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing an internal review, BCE terminated employment in a small number of individual cases for clear violations of our code of conduct,\u201d BCE said in a statement to the Toronto Sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese cases involved deliberate and repeated falsification of workplace attendance, including entering the workplace to record attendance and then leaving the premises, also known as \u2018swipe and go.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Attendance scam at offices across country<\/p>\n
The workplace attendance scam occurred at offices across the country and the terminations didn\u2019t involve any unionized employees, the company said.<\/p>\n
BCE didn\u2019t say how many workers lost their jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn each case, there was a thorough investigation and individuals were presented with clear evidence of their misconduct,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority of individuals admitted to deliberate and repeated falsification of workplace attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Punched in to use gym<\/p>\n
The news of the firings was first reported by\u00a0The Globe and Mail<\/a>.<\/p>\n In one reported case, an employee would go to the office just to use the gym before leaving. Another saw a worker clock in shortly before midnight and again after midnight to appear as if they were on the job for two separate days.<\/p>\n Those workers who violated BCE\u2019s employee code of conduct were terminated.<\/p>\n The firings come at a time when some companies and governments are increasing employee\u2019s weekday office attendance in an effort to strengthen return-to-office protocols and slowly move away from hybrid work models following the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Return-to-work and hybrid policies<\/p>\n In February, the federal government<\/a> announced its intentions to have all executives work from the office at the beginning of May while public service employees will be required to show up for work four days a week beginning on July 6.<\/p>\n