{
  "id": 16042020,
  "title": "Worktime fraud: 40 paid hours, 20 hours worked – This is how employees cheat their bosses",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/arbeitszeitbetrug-40-stunden-bezahlt-werden-20-arbeiten-so-betrugen",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-22T12:07:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/karriere/berufe-ich-gehe-davon-aus-dass-meine-mitarbeiter-auch-chillen/100092335.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "A German article reports on widespread time theft in the workplace, where employees fake their working hours. One employee, Elias Cos, revealed his method of using a watch and mouse to simulate work, allowing him to work only 4-5 hours a day. According to a survey, 13% of employees regularly misrecord their work hours, and 75% have done personal tasks during work hours. Experts warn that time theft can have severe consequences for companies and may even spread among colleagues. Courts have ruled in several cases that time theft can lead to dismissal, with some verdicts upholding the termination of employees found guilty of such actions.",
  "summary": "They do sports or take hour-long breaks - during working hours. Time-theft offenders reveal why they feel bad about it, but still lie to their boss.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}