At Meta Platforms, several employees have been terminated after reportedly using their $25 meal vouchers for items beyond food, including household products like wine glasses and laundry detergent.

Management concluded that spending food credits on non-food items and sharing them with others crossed a significant line, resulting in the dismissal of approximately 24 employees in Los Angeles.

This incident, initially highlighted by the Financial Times, sparked varied discussions on Blind, a platform where technology professionals exchange insights about their workplaces and salaries.

One commenter stated: “Meal credit is intended to enhance employee satisfaction; if employees find an alternative use for it, why is that perceived as abuse? The original purpose of the credit is being met.”

Another user expressed gratitude to the whistleblower, saying, “Whoever leaked this, bless you. F*** Zuck!” referring to Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of Meta. A different user posed the question: “While Zuck buys yachts, employees purchasing necessities are labeled as abusers?”

Conversely, some defended the practices of the tech firm that operates Facebook, with one stating: “Imagine earning a $500,000 salary and still having the mentality that you’re entitled to free stuff. Pathetic.” This response received pushback, with another user remarking, “The lack of ethics among high-earning tech individuals and the sense of entitlement are alarming. It’s about time this occurred.”

Meta employees enjoy free meals at the company’s facilities, along with vouchers for services like Uber Eats and GrubHub, which help those without cafeteria access to order food. However, as these firms now provide a wider selection of products, some employees have misused the service to purchase personal items, including skincare products, in violation of company regulations.

Meta has yet to respond to inquiries regarding this matter.

This news follows Meta’s announcement of job cuts across its WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs divisions. The company previously underwent major layoffs, shedding 11,000 employees in 2022 and 10,000 in 2023, paralleling the trend seen in the broader technology sector post-pandemic.

The firm remarked on these reductions, indicating: “Certain teams at Meta are undergoing changes to better align their resources with long-term strategic objectives and location plans.”

The topic of improper use of corporate benefits is not new. For example, a Citibank analyst was dismissed for gross misconduct after expensing a lunch date with his partner during a business trip to Amsterdam. In that situation, the ruling favored the bank due to issues surrounding the way expenses were filed and claimed, rather than the amount involved.