It was a scheme that seemed simple enough: swipe into the office, then slip away unnoticed. But for a handful of Bell Canada employees, that small act of deception cost them their careers.
Parent company BCE Inc. launched an internal investigation after suspecting something was off with the company's attendance policy. The rule requires corporate staff to be in the office three days a week. Instead, some workers were gaming the system.
They'd swipe their badges to register a presence, then promptly leave without working. One employee even used the office just to hit the gym before vanishing. Another clocked in just before midnight and again after midnight, fraudulently claiming two separate days of work.
BCE didn't reveal exactly how many people were caught. But the company confirmed the terminations took place across offices nationwide, and no unionized workers were involved. The message was clear: the code of conduct is not a suggestion.
This crackdown comes as companies and governments aggressively push employees back to the office. The pandemic-era hybrid model is slowly fading, and attendance policies are getting teeth.
In February, the federal government mandated that executives return to the office by May, with public servants following in July. Ontario ordered all public employees back full-time starting January. Toronto now requires most staff to be in at least three days a week, with division heads expected to show up four days.
But for those Bell Canada workers, the lesson came too late. Their shortcuts didn't save time—they just sealed their fate.
