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Meta fires staff for 'using free meal vouchers to buy household goods'

theguardian.com

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Re: Meta fires staff for 'using free meal vouchers to buy household goods'

#161

Post by s1artibartfast »

JohnFen wrote: post #160
s1artibartfast wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They weren't.it wasn't compensation. The employees were stealing from the company coffee jar

It certainly counts as part of the compensation package. That said, it's compensation employees accepted with conditions in its use, and to intentionally violate those conditions is not ethically supportable.

I don't think they do, at least for tax purposes. Some have suggested this is one reason companies are sensitive around the topic.

Work meals are not W-2 taxable compensation if they meet several conditions, such as being consumed outside normal working hours and on premises.

A gift card to buy food or whatever you want is w-2 taxable income. A meal voucher so people can eat while working late is not.

https://www.henssler.com/employer-provided-meals-are-they-ta...

Re: Meta fires staff for 'using free meal vouchers to buy household goods'

#162

Post by shagie »

mikeocool wrote: post #50
Joker_vD wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really an abuse? Oh no, he used meal credits to buy toothpaste and tea instead of food, so... what? It really irks me that this level of pettiness comes from the corporation that itself uses every single tax "optimization" scheme on earth (and also probably invented a couple). Apparently, quod licet Metae non licet famulo. This really is just a small monetary enhancement to one's wage, not a "we ration out your…

> This really is just a small monetary enhancement to one's wage The IRS doesn’t view it that way — if people were just given an extra $70 a day for expenses not related to their job, it would typically to be taxed as compensation. If they allowed this to happen unchecked and lots of people started doing it, the headline would be “Meta facilitates tax avoidance scheme for employees making $400k”

The relevant IRS document is

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b#en_US_2024_publink1000...

The relevant section is on De Minimis Meals.

Re: Meta fires staff for 'using free meal vouchers to buy household goods'

#163

Post by infamouscow »

ffsm8 wrote: post #159
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me rephrase for you what he meant: "If you steal, don't get caught." The rich and powerful are simply much better at breaking the rules without getting caught, that's how they're rich, while the poor are usually not, that's why they stay poor.

I doubt he'd agree that he meant that ( • ‿ • ) It's also undisputably false, unless you exclude all the people that don't adhere to your thesis. But at that point, you're just grasping at straws and cannot admit to being wrong. I.e. P Diddy as a very notorious recent example that was both rich and effectively powerful (how else would he have gotten away with it for decades) and has now crashed. The inverse exists as…

You've misunderstood my point: "most of these employees believe they're elite, they aren't." This isn't some clumsy No True Scotsman fallacy. It's a straightforward observation of human nature. In any large organization, the delusion of competence is widespread.

Now, let's assume, as you suggest, that I'm wrong and Meta has fired a true natural elite for abusing company perks. If that's the case, Meta's failure is obvious. However, if they really were elite, and Meta valued them accordingly, the abuse would be irrelevant. Elite performance forgives small transgressions—always has, always will.

Re: Meta fires staff for 'using free meal vouchers to buy household goods'

#164

Post by bathtub365 »

salawat wrote: post #72
bathtub365 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea is to keep them in the office by giving them free food they’re only supposed to eat while they’re there, without paying overtime.

IT people are overtime exempt. Overtime doesn't factor into the calculus.

I used to make overtime pay as a software developer. It’s just been widely accepted by a lot of software developers that they don’t deserve overtime.

Re: Meta fires staff for 'using free meal vouchers to buy household goods'

#165

Post by ffsm8 »

infamouscow wrote: post #163
ffsm8 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt he'd agree that he meant that ( • ‿ • ) It's also undisputably false, unless you exclude all the people that don't adhere to your thesis. But at that point, you're just grasping at straws and cannot admit to being wrong. I.e. P Diddy as a very notorious recent example that was both rich and effectively powerful (how else would he have gotten away with it for decades) and has now crashed. The inverse exists as…

You've misunderstood my point: "most of these employees believe they're elite, they aren't." This isn't some clumsy No True Scotsman fallacy. It's a straightforward observation of human nature. In any large organization, the delusion of competence is widespread. Now, let's assume, as you suggest, that I'm wrong and Meta has fired a true natural elite for abusing company perks. If that's the case, Meta's failure is ob…

I never claimed to have understood your point, so no, I didn't. ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ

My examples addressed FirmwareBurner, who made a very different argument

Re: Meta fires staff for 'using free meal vouchers to buy household goods'

#166

Post by tyleo »

keybrd-intrrpt wrote: post #129
tyleo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a bad exchange for both the employee and the company. TBH I feel Meta could have just ended the program for these folks rather than flat out firing them.

No, screw that. Collective punishment is BAD Bad companies do this. They are so conflict-avoidant they would rather end useful programs instead of addressing the few bad-apples. Good on Meta.

Who is advocating for collective punishment?
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