Gen Z Worker Accused of Time Theft

By: Stephanie Bontorin | Published: Apr 15, 2024

In a video released by self-titled “anti-work girlboss”, Gabrielle Judge shares her personal approach to the corporate work environment.

The Gen Z influencer shared an experience when she was accused of “time theft” by a former employer.

What Is Time Theft?

Time theft can be a pretty serious accusation by an employer, and many say that it is the same as stealing physical items from a company.

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The practice encompasses certain behaviors that intentionally drain time at work. Some examples include taking too long in the bathroom or on scheduled breaks, logging off early, or using work time to complete personal tasks.

Judge Shares Her Biggest Mistake

Judge, who goes by @gabrille_judge on TikTok, shared a huge mistake that she made with her first corporate position.

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She hopes that by sharing her experience she can help other people in that position to avoid the same mistake and thrive in their careers.

Her First Job With Big Responsibilities

During the summer between her junior and senior year, Judge got her first manager job outside of her college.

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She says that she received this job because of her experience working as an resident advisor (RA) in her college dorm, and didn’t know what to expect from the new environment.

Missing Training Cost Her Big

While traveling through Thailand during the summer break, the TikToker says that she missed out on the training shifts that were necessary for the position.

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However, she incorrectly assumed that the training would either be made up before the real job began or that she would have the training materials waiting in her inbox.

Addressing the Issue With HR

Since she missed out on valuable training classes, she didn’t realize that when she clocked into her shifts, she was using two different codes with two different wages, one of which did not belong to her.

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She was called into an early morning meeting to discuss the issue. Her bosses assumed that what she was doing was intentionally receiving a higher wage as she appeared to use the codes randomly throughout the month.

A Self-Proclaimed Goody-Two-Shoes

Judge recalls feeling terrified of being accused of such a blatant crime. Since she’s always been a teacher’s pet and a bit of a “goody-two-shoes” she was shocked at the realization.

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Because of her self-set schedule, she always worked different hours and received paychecks for varying amounts. She genuinely never picked up on the fact that on some shifts throughout the month she was making $2 more per hour.

Being Accused of Time Theft

The issue came down to the fact that the company had accused her of stealing time from them.

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Even though is was an innocent mistake on Judge’s part, the company had to take the theft seriously, as the hours that she clocked did not belong to her.

The Issue Should Have Been Noticed Earlier

Time theft is a serious issue and should be dealt with quickly when an employer notices. However, she claims that her direct superior was approving her time every two weeks before issuing her paychecks, and that the issue should have been noticed.

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Just as Judge had a team under her and was approving their time, she believes that if they knew she was doing something wrong, then her bosses should have notified her of the mistake instead of letting it go on for so long.

The Experienced Soured Her Career Ambitions

After finishing her work at the company during her senior year of college, Judge says that the experience made her never want to work in another management position.

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When she moved into the tech space after graduation, she quickly realized that people management was one of the only ways to rise through the ranks in the company.

A Colleague Gave Her Confusing Advice

Since her parents never went to college and worked blue collar jobs, she says that she didn’t have anyone in her family who could give her guidance on the situation.

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She reached out to a colleague in a similar position to her and they advised that if she wanted to clarify the issue then she should schedule another meeting to hash out the issue. However, Judge says that this advice confused her even more, since it wasn’t her issue in the first place.

The Experience Showed Her How Dysfunctional Corporate America Can Be

Many people note that working in corporate America comes with its own secret set of rules and social cues to live by.

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To succeed, she knew that she would have to learn the rules of a rather dysfunctional game to even try to compete for higher paying jobs.