Public servants have been asked to report coworkers who "waste" time at work (Representative Image)
Public servants in Australia have been told to anonymously report colleagues who take long lunches, leave work early or waste time at work. But the memo sent to the staff of the Australian Tax Office has been criticised by many who say it is harmful to workplace culture.
The Australian Taxation Office sent out a memo to 20,000 staff workers in December. But local media published its contents this week after the internal memo was released as part of Freedom of Information documents.
"You might have seen it before. A colleague makes a habit of taking long lunches; or regularly leaves early; or spends the first hour at work eating breakfast and reading the paper ... or all of the above," the memo begins ominously.
Explaining that inaccurately logging work hours constitutes "fraud" - something all tax officers are obliged to help report - the memo urges staff to report "suspicious" behaviour to managers or or internal investigators.
But many have criticised the policy, saying it would be detrimental to work culture to have employees complain against each other.
"You're jealous because someone else is away from work, you don't know why and are not in a position to find out why, and because you don't like it you dob them in (report on them)," ABC quotes union official Jeff Lapidos as saying.
"We encourage all our staff to raise any workplace concerns with their manager. This includes irregular work patterns of colleagues," an Australian Tax Office spokesperson tells ABC.
"Did they ask to report the people who start work early and finish late, going the extra mile?" asks one person on social media. "Can we encourage politicians to do the same to their colleagues?" jokes another.
What do you think of this workplace policy? Let us know in the comments section below.
The Australian Taxation Office sent out a memo to 20,000 staff workers in December. But local media published its contents this week after the internal memo was released as part of Freedom of Information documents.
"You might have seen it before. A colleague makes a habit of taking long lunches; or regularly leaves early; or spends the first hour at work eating breakfast and reading the paper ... or all of the above," the memo begins ominously.
Explaining that inaccurately logging work hours constitutes "fraud" - something all tax officers are obliged to help report - the memo urges staff to report "suspicious" behaviour to managers or or internal investigators.
But many have criticised the policy, saying it would be detrimental to work culture to have employees complain against each other.
"You're jealous because someone else is away from work, you don't know why and are not in a position to find out why, and because you don't like it you dob them in (report on them)," ABC quotes union official Jeff Lapidos as saying.
"We encourage all our staff to raise any workplace concerns with their manager. This includes irregular work patterns of colleagues," an Australian Tax Office spokesperson tells ABC.
"Did they ask to report the people who start work early and finish late, going the extra mile?" asks one person on social media. "Can we encourage politicians to do the same to their colleagues?" jokes another.
What do you think of this workplace policy? Let us know in the comments section below.
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