‘Union Rep Was Being Unhelpful on Purpose’ : Employee Receives Unfair Formal Warning for 3-Week Medical Absence Given by Unprofessional Manager, Resulting in Malicious Compliance by Means of Appeal

Eleonora Bader

Feb 7, 2023 2:30 PM EST

You haven't experienced the true face of humanity unless you've worked at one point or another in customer service, and yes, that includes retail. The fact of the matter is, you can't indoctrinate someone for minimum wage and expect them to actually give a hoot about the job. It's not a secret, customers know this, management knows this, heck the workers themselves are well aware.

Now, of course, there are the outliers, the people who care about their employment, the ones who make an effort to come to work. This tale of malicious compliance is about this type of overworked employee who didn't take a single sick day for three entire years while he worked at a well-known retail store. He took to the infamous (or famous?) r/maliciouscompliance subreddit to share the detailed event.

My conclusion? Why, oftentimes, is management so utterly disappointing? Isn't it their job to know the policy of the company they work at in such a position? u/AdventurousString719 shared that he'd injured his knee, and received instructions from his doctor to take a leave of 3 weeks from work. His manager did not take kindly to that, and as soon as he returned (wobbling, might I add, as he had not fully recovered), she took it upon herself to give him a formal warning.

What ensued is what we're all here for — some nice old malicious compliance that I'd say is mixed with petty revenge. He appealed and got more than what he'd anticipated — in the best way. Scroll down to read the detailed account below. You're also welcome to check out these hilarious starter packs that are kinda faultless.