The use of Facebook has cost another employee their job, this time in the once friendly Switzerland. The woman worked for Nationale Suisse in a position where she works with a computer.

Here's the story: the woman reported that she was suffering from a migraine and needed to go home to "lie in a darkened room." The company granted her request, though monitored her Facebook actions while she was away, and caught her Facebooking while home. The company reported that the woman lost their trust when she was found to be Facebooking in her "darkened room," and promptly fired her. The woman reported that she merely accessed the site from her iPhone in bed, though the company took the stance that if she was well enough for this she was well enough to work at a computer in the office.

The company explained that a co worker had "inadvertently noticed her using Facebook," there was no report on how this co worker was punished. It looks as though the company had employed Big Brother to spy on her instead, as the woman reported that "the company had created a fictitious Facebook persona which become "friends" with her, allowing the company to monitor her online activity." Very suspicious either way!

It used to be that you had to fear running into your boss on the golf course on a "sick day," these days you aren't even safe in your home. I wonder if companies are now hiring internet spies to monitor their employees actions and comments? It's getting ridiculous how suspicious and fire-happy employers are becoming, what a sad state to be in. I'm not defending people who are bad mouthing their employers for everyone to see, though who hasn't been frustrated from time to time? This fear is only going to lead to more paranoid workers who are less productive and less free to be creative and enjoy their work. This certainly isn't the right direction.

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