'I have been reprimanded for productivity issues': Employee gets shamed by company for being too efficient

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 1, 2022 8:00 AM EST

Why should any of this matter if the work gets done well? This employee was shamed by their horrible boss for getting the required work done over the course of four hours instead of eight. The reality is that they're just incredibly efficient and thorough, while their coworkers tend to get the same amount of work done over the whole day. 

 

This thread, which was posted to Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit, is a prime example of why we need to rethink our collective approach to productivity in the workplace. If you want workers to do more than what is required, they need to be encouraged and incentivized either with a salary boost or some other meaningful perk. Ideally, we can work in an environment where no one has to draw out their work over the course of an eight-hour day and just be honest when they're, you know, done with their tasks. But I suppose we do not live in that ideal world yet. 

 

Keep scrolling below to see what people had to say in the comments. For more stories like this, check out this post about a boss who failed to pay his employees on time.

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  • 01
    Font - Boss demands fauxductivity S OC My current job is a simple one and nice as it is WFH, receive work to file digitally, upload said documents, repeat. The expected productivity according to my boss is laughably easy achievable by myself, however, others on my team seem to only be able to complete what is expected. (Keeping things vague bec my compant is large and I'd prefer to vent safely)
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 02
    Font - Anyways, every day I achieve above average uploads, like I said, it's super easy for me. I don't do too much over the top and generally can complete my whole workload, accurately, within a max of 4 hours every day. This leaves a lot of time to myself. I always stay by my computer however in case my boss or a coworker needs help with other things.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 03
    Font - Just this past week however, I have been reprimanded for "productivity" issues. Basically being told I need to be doing something at all times and that the time gaps in no work is unacceptable. This comes after having worked in this fashion for the last 10 months by the way.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 04
    Font - So, my boss demands that when I am clocked in, my upload records must always show that I have recently done something, and that there cannot be a gap in uploads longer than 10 minutes unless I'm clocked out. Basically demanding I do more work for the same amount of pay.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 05
    Font - Well, my solution is to set a timer that goes off on my phone every 3 and a half minutes telling me to complete one upload. So now I do the exact same amount of work over the course of 8 hours instead of 4. Don't want to pay me more for doing 3x as much work as others? I'm not putting the effort in then. It's silly to think I would.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 06
    Font - 2 hr. ago You can probably rig up a scheduler to upload your files for you. Do the work in 4 hours and set it up to load one file every 3 minutes + a few random seconds for the next 4 hours. HaifaLutin
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 07
    Font - Minyguy 2 hr. ago . You could probably make it even better. Make it change the intervals depending on how much time is left, and how many documents have been give to it. So say you complete 15 documents, and it's 3 hours left. Well, 180 minutes / 15 documents = 12 minutes per upload
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 08
    Font - olagorie edited 1 hr. ago +3.2 hr. ago. I have had a similar problem in my last job. But they weren't able to track what I was doing, only when was the last time my mouse / cursor got moved. If I did nothing for more than 15 minutes, my online status was changed to off-line and all my colleagues were able to see it. It was incredibly annoying as I always finished my tasks early and I also continuously asked my colleagues if they needed help with something. I wasn't lazy at all, just very
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 09
    Font - We previously had been seriously understaffed and me and my colleagues had been working overtime a lot. I didn't find a perfect solution for this, but I sometimes set my mouse on top of my robot vacuum, created an obstacle course and the jerking motions were often enough to make my cursor move. I felt bad enough about this already, so I actually never researched any more professional and effective solutions.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 10
    Font - SatansDaddyuwu OP. 2 hr. ago Yeah, my company also tracks mouse activity and does that as well. I'm not pressed about them wanting me to be at my computer at all times, I understand the need for hands if something arises. But demanding I do 2x to 3x more work than my coworkers while getting paid an hourly rate is silly in my opinion.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 11
    Font - If I was contracted and paid a per document I would be blazing through any and all work I could get my grubby little hands onto lol.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 12
    Font - Far_Restaurant_6575 1 hr. ago I had a YouTube video of 8hours of scrolling lines to make the mouse move abit all the time, or to stay active on teams just stick my phone on the keyboard with notepad open!
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 13
    Font - virgilreality +2. 1 hr. ago I can guarantee you that I will use the term "Fauxductivity" in the future.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 14
    Font - parkesc . 2 hr. ago And what about the others and their productivity? They weren't reprimanded, were they?
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu
  • 15
    Font - SatansDaddyuwu OP. 2 hr. ago Unknown actually, my numbers are as expected, it's simply the time I had leftover that they're upset about. They want me to seek out more work after completing what is expected. I'm not against it, but I don't see the point in completing 2x to 3x as much as my coworkers when getting paid the same compensation.
    via u/SatandsDaddyuwu

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work from home remote antiwork employee job Horrible Bosses reddit thread Reddit malicious compliance
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