People often wrongly assume online work is easier, but behind the scenes it often comes with its own brand of nonsense.

When one virtual assistant noticed their logged hours mysteriously shrinking, they knew something wasn’t adding up.

What followed was a frustrating lesson in how easily a boss can take advantage of virtual workers.

Keep reading for the full story.

My Boss Deducted Hours I Actually Worked and Still Expects Me to Stay Quiet

I work as a virtual assistant, and my boss recently started deducting hours from my timesheet for reasons that make absolutely no sense.

This assistant is confused, as they always give their all to this job.

I log in on time, finish all my tasks, and even send proof of everything I complete, yet somehow my “actual hours” are always less than what I submitted.

So when they asked for answers, their boss just gave them excuses.

When I asked about it, they said they were removing the time when I was “not visibly active,” even though the tasks they assigned were things that did not require constant clicking.

I literally delivered everything on time.

This virtual assistant already feels disrespected enough without this blatant theft.

It is frustrating because I rely on those hours, and every deduction feels like I am being punished for doing my job correctly.

Being a VA is already tough since we are often treated as if our time is worth less just because we work online.

Watching my pay shrink for work I actually did makes it even worse.

At this point, it feels like they expect free labor and hope I will not complain.

But honestly, if they keep doing this, I might start looking for a client who actually respects the hours I work.

Digital workplaces aren’t always better workplaces.

What did Reddit think?

This commenter thinks it’s time to escalate this issue as high as it’ll go.

This user agrees this employee may have a case.

It’s time to start leaving a paper trail.

Just because this virtual assistant isn’t constantly clicking, doesn’t mean they’re not doing their job.

No matter how this boss tries to dress it up, deducting paid hours is illegal and wrong, full stop.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.