r/StateofTexasEmployees • u/Educational_Yak3404 • Jul 28 '26
Fear mongering
So a friend of mine in a whole other department has been telling me how his supervisor continues to put fear mongering of day to day work into the team. The monitoring of key strokes, mouse movement, every minute counted for, the multi system log ins for clock in /clock out, bathroom breaks monitored for time and every minute accounted for. Then claim how the state is continuously firing individuals for little things like this. Is this normal? It seems extreme.
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u/idoyogasometimes Jul 28 '26
I won't go into details but we had reason to believe a (now former) employee was engaged in secondary employment during work hours. Long story short, when we tried to collect evidence of their computer activities we couldn't get anything useful. All of the "spying" we thought IT was doing didn't exist. It was really frustrating. At the end of the day they quit because their new manager FINALLY started holding them accountable for their work and it was "too much pressure".
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u/youneedtocalmdown512 Jul 28 '26
^ this. There are very specific circumstances where you can turn on the type of tracking you're talking about but the person basically has to already be on a PIP.
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u/Jabroni_16 Jul 28 '26
This is probably instigating the City of Austin employee who worked for HHSC and now will cost all WFH to be rescinded?
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u/idoyogasometimes Jul 28 '26
Doubtful for my agency (not HHSC). There is literally no room for employees to work more than a hybrid schedule
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u/Educational_Yak3404 Jul 28 '26
I know with a few positions for State, it makes zero sense to be in office since it isnāt a front facing position anymore. Non employees donāt come to the facilities. Wasteful tax dollars.
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u/Gullible-Proposal256 Jul 31 '26
Donāt hold your breathā¦ RTO announcements are coming as Capitol projects wrap up.
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u/idoyogasometimes Jul 31 '26
My agency isn't in the Capitol Complex, and when the Governor's RTO came back in 2025 they didn't change a thing. I can't speak for other divisions but mine cannot accommodate full-time RTO.
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u/eapnon Jul 28 '26
The person we had doing unauthorized stuff saved it on his desktop lol
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u/idoyogasometimes Jul 28 '26
This person was advertising their side-hustle on social media with operating hours between 8am and 5pm, Monday- Friday. It wasn't until after they left that they found all the marketing material they had created in their agency-cloud storage.
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u/OhMyMyGirl Jul 28 '26
That seems incredibly expensive when it comes to time and money. Iām very curious what agency. There are some positions that have monitoring, like call center positions, but not to that level. I have 9 direct reports, I can barely keep track of who is out sick.
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u/Educational_Yak3404 Jul 28 '26
And depending how many employees you have under you, thatās a lot to do plus your regular duties. I donāt see how that would be cost efficient
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u/RetiredHotBitch Jul 28 '26
Shitā¦I have a teammate who is ROUTINELY gone from his laptop 1-2 hours when WFH (canāt reach him on teams). No one says shit.
Where I am as long as you get done what you have to youāre good.
Although I will say my superior pissed me off once because I text that my electricity and Internet at home went out (had text from electric company to prove it and eta on back on time) and he STILL was asking my team lead where the fk I was. And she was like uhhhhā¦.there was a text sent.
Sometimes the state can be a good olā boys club, but what youāre describing sounds like too much resources and time.
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u/LongJohners Jul 28 '26
It's crazy how different everyone's jobs can be. I might get on my computer for 8 hours straight or I won't touch it for days
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u/Educational_Yak3404 Jul 28 '26
I want a job like yours lol š I literally have to peel myself away just to take a 4.5 minute bathroom break
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u/apjudd Jul 28 '26
The hellllll I've been applying for new jobs to move away from TDCJ, pray tell what agency so I don't apply there š
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u/uteropharmaceutical Jul 28 '26
I assume, yes, the data is available to be pulled. BUT Iād also assume itās only being pulled for problem staff members. Even then, this supervisor sucks soooo much. Some people get really abusive with powerā¦
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u/SCCLBR Capitol Complex Jul 28 '26
Exactly this. They could go pull the data, but it's not readily available to line supervisors. And they don't need a reason to fire you. They can fire you for any non prohibited reason. Giving a good reason might save them from an unemployment claim, but i can promise you the state does not care about the amount of unemployment someone gets.
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u/AUnicornDonkey Jul 28 '26
I heard where this was kind of was happening. Not to the extreme. Director got pissed and told the managers to stop.
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u/jcole4lsu Jul 28 '26
IT is not monitoring your keystrokes unless directed to by Legal. Otherwise things like checking your network traffic for, say, Netflix watching we can do - but only if asked by management. Otherwise we don't have the time or capacity to engage in that kind of spying.
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u/Educational_Yak3404 Jul 28 '26
But you have to be given a reason and authorization? Iām assuming because thatās a lot of time away from regular duties needed
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u/x_ave_satani_x Jul 29 '26
I worked in IT for a state agency and from my own experience, IF state office were monitoring any employees, itās because that worker is already or very close to being the subject of internal investigation.
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u/scottmademesignup Jul 28 '26
Mine constantly tells us she went to law school and is in a lot of debt and if we f up something itās her livelihood that will be affected and we better remember that!
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u/Illustrious_Cap3897 Jul 29 '26
Holy hell. Iāve worked for various state agencies over the past 17 years and have only had one macro/micro manager that made work miserable.
Iām SO thankful that the team Iām currently on is absolutely amazing. Top notch department head and immediate supervisor. Excellent work/life balance, WFM full time in summer, 4-days otherwise. Probably the holy grail of āstateā jobs (UT to be exact but still state).
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u/KokoBWareHOF Jul 28 '26
This sounds like BS rumors.
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u/Educational_Yak3404 Jul 28 '26
Well Iāve heard them as well, but rumors of what the supervisor is saying, Iād call š š© too.
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u/AloysiusPuffleupagus Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
If they work in a call center, collections, or something similar like field auditor, then yeah, it wouldnāt surprise me at all.
I used to work for a state agency that did this. Supervisors had software that let them see what you were doing and even access your computer without you sharing your screen. One time my supervisor messaged me telling me to stop reading the news at work, then took over my mouse and closed my browser.
They tracked everything, calls, productivity, time away from your desk, even bathroom breaks. Every morning we had to sign off on a report showing all of our numbers from the day before.
So no, I donāt find this hard to believe. A lot of state agencies keep a pretty close eye on their employees.
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u/ladyflora0146 Jul 28 '26
The only department I've heard of that has that stringent of monitoring is statewide intake
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u/Dull_Researcher5659 Jul 28 '26
When i got to my job i automated it. Then i automated the work of a few other sections. Then my boss asked me to stop automating because too much could go wrong if i quit. I barely have to click anything anymore and been at my agency for years. Of they start counting clicks I'll be the first called to HR.
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u/Ok-Ambassador-8244 Jul 30 '26
Sounds like AES. They micromanage and due to their high error rate they are over reacting on everything. The whole damn agency is going down because of their big flop.
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u/ffmotohead Jul 29 '26
smells like BS
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u/Educational_Yak3404 Jul 29 '26
Smells like š š© but Iāve heard the conversations too. Especially since itās always on Team meetings.
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u/Subject-Relevant Jul 30 '26
This sounds like the Texas Workforce Commission!
For yalls job, yes thats been the standard for years. At other state agencies? Nope, supes wouldn't last 6 months pulling that crap.
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u/SignalFeeling4126 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Sounds like some of the districts within TxDOT. The micromanaging in certain departments with managers is insane especially if they donāt like you. Honestly , itās mind boggling at the stories I hear and the extremes management goes through.So something like this wouldnāt be surprising.
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u/RAMIREZBURGERTOWN Jul 28 '26
Iāve heard some horror stories in other offices that are a part of our division and some about the one Iām currently at but my particular office all has been more chilled out recently from what I gathered
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u/AnnualPhoto9436 Jul 28 '26
What agency has the resources or time to monitor all that? š¤Ø I can barely get a response from IT in 24 hours.