Company policy requires employees to check work emails daily, resourceful part-timers viciously comply, charging company for each check
Way back in 1948, George Orwell wrote a great dystopian novel. Since then, a boss who wants too much control over every step of his subordinates deserves an unchanging comparison with Big Brother. As you probably know, you can love and hate anyone (but this is punishable), but who is always watching over you? wherever you are whatever you do
In fact, in some cases, it can even be quite silly. Do managers mistrust their subordinates, believing they will do anything during working hours, but fail to meet immediate obligations? Their initiatives are sometimes met with unexpected backlash.
For example, for this employee, Posted by user u/OtherLtDan Reddit’s Malicious Compliance community has gathered about 25.7K upvotes and about 400 different comments over the past two years. It goes without saying that people love to read about weird corporate rules and reprisals like thunder from the heavens raining down on their bosses’ heads. we also enjoy…
More information: reddit
The author of this post once worked for a small private ambulance company that was eventually acquired by a larger company.
Image credit: crash71100 (not actual photo)
So the author of the first post worked for a small private ambulance company some time ago, which was eventually bought by a larger company. decided to mandate that all employees, regardless of rank or position, must check their work email at least once a day.
Image credit: other Dan
A new policy was implemented, according to which all employees were required to check their work email at least once a day
Such a requirement surprised the original contributor, who usually played a field supervisor on his work shift. By their own admission, they were very low part-timers, so weeks could actually pass between work shifts. , must follow. So the OP viciously complied and set his work email to update at the same time every day on his phone.
Image credit: other Dan
But the poster is not only a docile worker, but also a law-abiding citizen, and state and federal pay laws require that employees be paid each time they perform their duties outside of working hours. claim. So OP recorded her 15 minute email check on her paycheck in full compliance with the agency’s requirements. Additionally, the authors went a step further and told as many employees as possible to do the same.
Image credit: other Dan
The author viciously complied, putting 15 minutes into his timesheet each day, even though he was a part-timer.
Just agree – it doesn’t matter if your own immediate responsibilities make you too busy with your work shift! The main thing is to follow management’s instructions. This will allow you to check your work email from home. Then don’t forget to fill out your timesheet. Compliance with the law and company policy is our top priority.
Image credit: other Dan
The manager called the author after several payment cycles and asked for an explanation as to why he was doing it
This continued for several pay cycles, and the manager suddenly became interested in why this part-timer was regularly earning money for hours not included in his work shift. (on a holiday, the author states), and in a communication process that took exactly 22 minutes, the OP detailed the principles they were guided by.
Image credit: Ivan Samkov (not actual photo)
The new policy was quickly rescinded because the part-timers claimed they were simply following both corporate and federal rules.
When the manager demanded that this stop, the original poster explained that the law required it. , in this case, a written order from the boss was required. After all, the instructions to check your work email every day were canceled after a while?
People in the comments gave the author a big thumbs up, stating that it was a near-perfect malicious compliance story.
I have to say that people in the comments literally licked their fingers at the incredibly delicious tale of beautiful villainous compliance. , particularly fond of the request for a written directive to the labor board, people in the comments noted. However, as the original poster himself admits, corporate HR departments also loved dealing with them.
Image credit: Steven Lilley (not actual photo)
By the way, some commenters have noticed that the higher ups acted illogically twice in this situation. The first is when a new Directive is introduced and the second is when it is revoked. After all, if there’s an employer in this particular situation in the comments, he’s worth paying 15 minutes a day to keep everyone up to date with what’s going on. But logic isn’t always the strong point of some managers…
If you are interested in the topic of passive resistance of employees to upper management, you can enjoy, for example this is our post About how cafe staff mocks their boss’s “no chair policy”. And if you yourself have experienced something similar in your work, we’d love to hear your own story – let us know in the comments below.