A user on TikTok has gone viral after sharing text messages her employees have sent her claiming they forgot to clock in or out on the job.
In a video with over 748,000 views, user Maddison (@maddisonlynnm) shows a string of text messages, each claiming that an employee has forgotten to clock in or out.
“Sweet messages from my employees,” Maddison sarcastically writes in the text overlaying the video.
@maddisonlynnm My favorite type of messages 🙄🤪 #lovemyemployees #lovemyjob #keepclockin🧿 #timesheets #hrmanager #managersbelike ♬ Come Back Be Here x Teach Me How To Dougie mashup – DJ Rog 🎧
In comments, the conversation quickly turned into a debate about clocking in and out altogether.
“Everyone should be salary,” a user wrote. “I used to hate punching in and out.”
“You’re supposed to clock in to log your hours, it’s usually to compare working hours to project hours etc,” Maddison offered in response.
Others still insisted that salary saves time and headaches for management.
“I told my boss he saved more in payroll with me moving up to salary and he agreed,” a commenter recalled.
“I’m getting a stern talking to about this,” a second claimed. “‘it’s a waste of payrolls time to constantly correcting it.’”
In response, Maddison noted, “I can understand for a company that has 50 + employees but I bet the manager doesn’t have to clock in and if they did – they’d forget.”
Some users offered their reasons, legitimate or otherwise, for forgetting to clock in or out.
“Been there 5 years and do this once a week still,” a commenter shared.
“I would fit in great there!!! I also forget to take lunches. I get side tracked or busy with something & my adhd mind just forgets,” a further user stated.
“I forget to clock in when I’m late lol,” an additional TikToker wrote.
Update 11:46am CT, Sept. 7: In an Instagram DM to Daily Dot, Maddison said that she did not mind the text messages and that she was simply making a joke.
“I don’t want to stop the texts,” she laughed. “It’s totally just a joke. I love my employees.”
She said that open communication in this manner is best for a business of her size.
“I think it’s all about maintaining open communication and being proactive, as a manager, sometimes technology doesn’t work and when it’s busy – especially in a medical office – it’s not a priority to clock in. Ya know?” she wrote.
“I have a unique approach to management I would say. I would say I am a more trauma-informed leader, at least I do my best to always be,” she continued.
Finally, she concluded, “If anyone thought I was being serious that’s not anything I can control…their perception is their experience.”