Sometimes the scanning machines they used glitched, causing the system to erroneously report that they were 'idle' for 15 minutes. This inevitably resulted in a scolding from their manager, or even a formal warning on their record. Managers always believed the automated systems over employees.
He was studying part-time, and every single time he was given permission to take a day off for an exam, whether paid or unpaid, the system mistakenly marked him as absent and added 'points' to his record. He often had to spend hours of personal time on the phone with HR to get these points removed. Accumulating a certain number of points meant being fired automatically.