Meta Platforms, Inc, an American multinational technology conglomerate that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, reportedly fired 24 employees at its Los Angeles offices for using their $25 meal credits to purchase items such as toothpaste, laundry detergent, and wine glasses, according to The Guardian.
The company, which employs over 70,000 people, fired employees last week after an inquiry showed that they were misusing the system, including sending meals home when they were not in the office, according to the news site. One unnamed worker on a $400,000 (308,070 pounds) salary claimed to have spent their meal credits on household goods and groceries like toothpaste and tea.
"On days where I would not be eating at the office, like if my husband was cooking or if I was grabbing dinner with friends, I figured I ought not to waste the dinner credit," the employee wrote on Blind, an anonymous messaging platform.
According to the Financial Times, which first reported the story, the worker admitted the breach when approached as part of a human resources investigation into the practice and was later fired. “It was almost surreal that this was happening,” the person wrote.
Free food has always been one of the benefits of working for a huge IT company. Meta is placed 91st on Forbes’ list of the world’s greatest employers (2024).
The company was founded by Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris R Hughes, Andrew McCollum, and Eduardo P. Saverin on February 4, 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.
