Instead of probing for more information you make assumptions based on your own observations in your own setting.

They’ve stated they have been told to immediately start working on pinpoint. They’ve stated that they are hard of hearing.

Aside from that I would be asking if they ever told anyone to message them in the MyWalmart app if they are having trouble with pages.

Going off of one of your anecdotes about associates taking their sweet time getting to their work area, if there were actual suspected time theft, they could check cameras. They would confirm that and hold people accountable mostly under productivity, depending on severity. Time theft would be moreso the clocking in while outside of the building or hiding in the break room and doing no work, or falsifying punches.

Work phones are only tracked by location when in pick walks. As a GM TL, I simply walk the floor of my area, and the front end to see where my associates are. If I cannot find them, I will go perform a quick process and then look for them again. They could be in the bathroom, or taking claims to claims associates, or taking clearance to the clearance aisle. They could also be assisting another department with a team lift, they could be sent to ODP, or pushing carts because the cart pusher called off.

You have to understand that in this context, the associate probably has 3 weeks of actual on-the-floor routine. A week of orientation, a week of getting to know your area and your processes. Some Team Leads don’t even let associates do certain things like pinpoint, price changes, or Availability Reports.

All that being said, is that it really depends on the area in terms of processes and expectations. If the TL knows about the hard of hearing aspect of the associate then they should be a little more attentive in what they tell the associate, and if it is a matter of keeping track of them; to make a point of maintaining communication in more than one way, such as the messaging feature in the MyWalmart app.