The news has come out that Meta has fired an employee who was paid a fairly high salary for charging the company for toothpaste. Wait, what?
What is Meta
Meta is one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world of technology (it is the “mother” of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp), originally founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, who ordered the change to Meta in 2021 to focus his companies on a “metaverse” in which people can interact digitally.
So, what happened?
The company discovered that several employees were abusing coupons. Apparently, Meta offers its employees a ticket system intended to cover food expenses during workdays. What these users did was spend those $25 coupons on toothpaste instead of spending them on food.
For Meta, this incident reveals the importance of setting clear rules within a company, but even more crucial is making sure that these rules are enforced.
The Financial Times reported that this was not an isolated case because the dismissed employees had been abusing the food credit system for a long time. Some used their vouchers to order home-delivered meals, even though the benefits were intended to be used exclusively in the offices.
“Those who were dismissed were deemed to have abused the food credit system over a long period of time. Some employees had apparently been pooling their money while others received meals sent to their home even though the credits were intended for the office.”
That is why it was not considered an “isolated incident” and they considered it to be very serious even though they did not buy illegal products (such as drugs) or bribe anyone.
A user commented that “toothpaste and glasses of wine are not food, but firing them from work is a bit exaggerated”
However, the company reiterates that the rules are there to be followed, and that breaking them has a higher price. Meta considered that it was a serious enough reason to justify dismissal. Other companies will surely opt for less drastic measures (such as eliminating food vouchers for those workers who violate the rules), Meta wanted to set a public precedent so that there is evidence that the consequences for breaking the rules are clear.
Speculations about other reasons for dismissal
Many people have speculated that this was a simple excuse to dismiss some workers, and other workers believe that they simply set up a farce to dismiss these workers for other reasons that are still unknown.
However, Meta believes that there are more reasons than the dishonesty of having “taken advantage” of a benefit that the company offers its workers.
Although dismissals are always an option, the constant application of the rules prevents illegal dismissals from occurring. In this case, Meta dismissed about two dozen employees and it does not seem that it was with any other pretext than the one we mentioned.
What is the purpose of this situation?
The employees who have lost their jobs are estimated to have been paid $400,000 a year.
Meta has seen its “ego” damaged by this “abuse” on the part of the workers, because the company does not intend to be kind with the food vouchers, but rather they intend for people to continue working while eating. This supposedly “incentivizes” employees to work more, however, if you use that money to buy household items, that is another incentive that is being lost.
Benefits and salaries
The accounts are clear and the benefits are also clear. If someone earns $400,000 a year for a 40-hour work week, you pay them approximately $192 per hour.
By increasing their work to 50 hours per week, the costs are reduced to $153 per hour. With 60 hours per week, you are paying $128 per hour. That is the real reason for food vouchers.
Establishing clear measures
For Meta, this fact was considered a lack of professional ethics and was enough to consider the dismissal of these workers. They could have done it in another way, but they also wanted it to serve as a warning to all those who might also think of “disrespecting” the company.