A 61-year-old school caretaker claims she was sacked from her job because of her social media dance videos.
Mari Carmen “Maica” Cabrera became hugely popular with her light-hearted videos showing her moves or lip-synching into her mop.
One, showing her moving her hips as she wipes the sports hall floor clean, has been watched 1.3 million times.
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Maica started making her videos in November 2022, as reported on What’s The Jam.
She explained: “Cleaning every day is so boring and making videos cheered me up.
“All I wanted was to liven up my job and cheer up other people in their daily chores through the humour of my videos.”
But last Monday (22 Apr), Maica, of Madrid, Spain, says she was handed a letter telling her she was relieved from her duties.
Maica told local media: “I’d been working at that school for six years.
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“They gave me the dismissal letter without any prior notice.”
She said the letter read: “On 12 March 2024, the management of this company became aware that you have uploaded a series of videos to a social network.
“In these videos, you appear at your workplace, wearing the uniform, engaging in a series of acts.
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“These acts constitute a breach of your labour obligations of such seriousness that this company cannot tolerate.”
Maica was not sacked by the school directly, but by the company she had been with for less than two months.
She explained: “I’ve been working as a cleaner for 20 years.
“I’ve already worked for six or seven companies, since they have to take over the entire staff every time the cleaning service provider changes.”
The dismissal letter went on: “In these videos, you’re seen displaying a complete lack of professionalism.
“You engage in parodies, misuse cleaning tools, dance, and jump around in your workplace, which, let’s remember, is an educational centre.”
Maica protested: “I didn’t record the videos during my shift.
“I started recording during my break time or when I had finished cleaning because it only took me two or three minutes.
“And then, when I got home, that’s when I started editing the videos.”
Maica has two children, aged 37 and 23, and was only four years away from retirement when she was sacked.
Her husband is also unemployed and is struggling to find work as a delivery driver because of his age.
Maica says she was never told in writing that she wasn’t allowed to make social media videos in the workplace.
She has now filed a complaint alleging unfair dismissal.
According to a study by the University of Warwick, happier employees are about 12 per cent more productive.
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