If there’s a contract, then the relationship is not one between an employer and an employee, but a contractor and a client. Contracts are very rarely written to include requirements such as “sit here where I can see you, and pretend to type all the time, whether that’s the best use of your skills or not.”
As long as you come through with your deliverables it isn’t anyone’s business how long you stare at screensavers or play video games or stand outside smoking.
On the other hand, if an employer’s only metric for evaluating employee work product is “Does this person look busy all the time?” then the employer is a fatuous incompetent who deserves to be taken advantage of.
