Company's Cruel Late & Sick Policies Backfire, Bosses Cry About It

On top of squeezing every last drop of value out of workers' labor, huge faceless corporations are always finding clever ways to scam their employees out of wages using exploitative work policies. Redditor u/Alternative_Hunter34 hopped on to r/antiwork to tell the internet about how their company's late and sick policies ended up biting them in the ass due to some deliciously malicious compliance.

Basically, OP's employer imposed a new late policy that meant you'd lose a whole hour of pay the moment you clocked-in late. Instead of more employees showing up on-time, late-comers started showing up a whole 55 minutes late. The bosses were baffled, but it's pretty simple—if you already know you're not going to make it on time, why would you come in five minutes late to then essentially work for free? Might as well grab a coffee and take your sweet time. OP's employer's sick leave policy was equally as illogical. Keep scrolling to see the whole post and highlights from the comment section.

Posted by Mel Dawn

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OP explains how their employer's unfair policies totally backfired

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$Font - I'm in no more trouble for being off longer; there's no maximum time. Whether it's 3 days or 18 months, I come back and get a stage 1 disciplinary. So l've done my 2 days unpaid. I'm now getting my sick pay; it's been a while since the last holiday, and there's a long slog to the next one... How much time can I afford to have off? Again, focus group, heavy-handed policies invite exploitation, shrugs. If you're going to beat us for minor infractions, which sometimes can't be helped, we're$

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Redditors replied with similar experiences

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Wait, isn't this illegal?

One Redditor pointed out that OP's company might have been engaging in wage theft. Using a late or sick policy as a tool to withhold wages is some next-level shady business that feels pretty illegal.

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OP is from the UK

OP explained that they're from the UK, where work policies are usually in the employer's favor.

"If UK," u/LordBlackletter chimed in, "then your average hourly wage has to be over the legal minimum wage. If they are docking a hour pay for 5 minutes late then (depending on your payrate) you might not be hitting that."

In response to this, OP said, "We are over the minimum by a significant degree, which is the main reason we all still work there. Wages aren't the problem, just the hoops we have to jump through, and shit we have to put up with in order to get them."

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$Font - Ar_phis · 3d 3 Awards we're going to make our infraction worth the punishment I love that sentence 6 Reply 1 11.6k 3 +$

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