"I Just Wanted To Do A Good Job": Autistic Worker Struggles With “Time Theft” Investigation

Being a good employee is more than doing your job well. It also requires effective workload management so that you can be productive and maintain a healthy balance between your professional and personal lives.

Reddit user Transasaurus-Hex had successfully exemplified this, becoming the top performer at their office. Part of what allowed them to excel was taking short breaks; however, when the higher-ups learned that their subordinate was browsing the internet, they took issue with it — even though the Redditor was well ahead of schedule.

To find out more about the whole ordeal, we contacted Transasaurus-Hex and they were kind enough to have a chat with us about what happened and the potential aftermath.

"This particular incident aside, working at the company has been okay, for the most part," the Redditor told Bored Panda. "It's my first time in an office after a significant time in the industry, so it's different from what I'm used to."

So far, it's still unclear which direction management is going to take this. "I haven't had the HR meeting yet," Transasaurus-Hex said.

But they believe it will have a big impact. "I think all of this will significantly affect both my approach to work and my future at the company. Why should I do a good job if I get penalized for it?"

Dr. Nika White, who is an award-winning management and leadership consultant with over 20 years of experience, says the notion that employees need to be workhorses at the expense of their physical, mental, and financial well-being is harmful not only to them, but also to colleagues, leadership, and the workplace as a whole.

"As time passes, these workers grow weary of their work time encroaching so insidiously on their personal time. They become less willing to go the extra mile for leadership, who they may now view as unconcerned and compassionate," she explains. "They lose their desire to shine and they focus on self-preservation instead. Suddenly, an excellent employee the company could count on becomes disenchanted; someone who feels overburdened and underappreciated – because they are."

To put it simply, by pushing these workers more, management ends up getting less.

Because of this, Dr. White says managers who are worried about being victims of time theft can actually be the perpetrators. According to her, leadership should, first and foremost, look at what each employee brings to the organization. And in Transasaurus-Hex's case, it's a lot. So much so that them scrolling through the internet every now and then is probably a non-problem.