An Australian Woman Sacked After Company Uses Keystroke Tech To Monitor Her Work From Home Performance

Ms. Cheikho, an Australian woman Sacked from her job for not typing enough while working from home. Australia’s Fair Work Commission (FWC) rejected the woman’s unfair dismissal application, stating the she was fired for a valid reason of misconduct.

Ms Cheikho, who was employed by an insurance company, lost her job after 18 years. She was caught when the firm used keystroke technology to monitor her work-from-home performance.

According to the news, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) consultant Suzie Cheikho was sacked from her job for not typing enough while working remotely. According to the news, Ms. Cheikho was responsible for creating insurance documents, meeting regulatory timelines, and monitoring ‘work from home’ compliance along with other important roles.

The company fired Ms. Cheikho this February, the reason for missing meetings and deadlines, not only this but she was absent throughout and uncountable. In addition, she was unable to complete her task which made the industry regulator fine her company.

Earlier in March, Cheikho claimed to the FWC that her employer had a “premeditated plan to remove her from the business and that she was targeted due to her mental health issues”. However, FWC’s investigation found that Ms. Cheikho was fired for a “valid reason of misconduct.

In November 2022, the ex-consultant of the form was issued a formal warning regarding her performance and we’re out on a performance improvement plan. According to the company, the company used keystroke technology to monitor her and found that she had a very low keystroke activity for almost 49 days between October and December.

The firm was very active in her case and found that she started work late on 47 days, and completed her task early on 29 days and she did not even work her rostered hours for almost 44 days. During the investigation, it was also found that on 4 days, she did zero hours of work.
But Ms. Cheikho claimed her employer made a “premeditated plan to remove her from the business and that she was targeted due to her mental health issues”.

Throughout the investigation, Ms. Cheikho averaged 54 strokes per hour, which indicated that “she was presenting for work and performing work as required”.
However, the consultants, who occasionally used other devices to log in, denied that she worked less than her set hours. The consultant stated that sometimes she uses her other device to log in. She also stated that she was “confused and shocked” at the data, and questioned its accuracy.

Thomas Roberts, FWC deputy president decided that Ms Cheikho was not working as she was required to do her assigned working hours, even though she was being watched. According to Mr. Roberts, the applicant was dismissed for a proper reason of misconduct. He acknowledged the disastrous situation, he decided that the termination was not unjust or unreasonable. Mr. Robert also stated, “I have little doubt that the factors underlying the applicant’s disconnection from work were serious”.

Mr. Robert added the situation was ‘regrettable’ given Cheikho’s long period of satisfactory service.
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