‘You Say the Attendance System Is Law? Fine, I’ll Use It to My Advantage’ : Fed up Employee Plays Work System via Malicious Compliance, Following Bossy Manager’s Unfair Formal Rebuke

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Feb 19, 2023 10:00 AM EST

A boss with an imperious attitude… what else is new? If you've ever been reprimanded unfairly by upper management, join the club. To think we're all humans at the end of the day who have their own issues, go to the bathroom and cringe at the lack of toilet paper, drink one too many beers, cry over an ex… it's crazy how authority can make you forget all that, leading to unjust actions toward an employee. 

This employee in particular was a model worker — so he was a little more than surprised when his manager called him into her office for an earful. She was concerned about the extra 15 minutes that were missing from his shift a week earlier, accusing him of taking more time during one of his breaks. I'm already groaning, but I'll carry on nonetheless: He was adamant that he had not in fact, taken more time than usual (save for perhaps one minute, but who's counting?). 

She wasn't having any of that, so he took it upon himself to investigate the matter for himself. He found out that the punch system wasn't rounding the amount of time he worked while on break, but rather the time at which he punched. Instead of divulging the information to her, he decided to take action. Scroll down for a detailed description of his malicious compliance…

You can check out some more MC here, where veterinary students got back at the school system.

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  • 01
    Font - r/r/MaliciousCompliance Posted by u/Ok_Ganache2137 19 hours ago 喜③ Boss says the time reported by the punch system is law, watch me use the law to my advantage M OC 3
    via u/Ok_Ganache2137
  • 02
    Font - Not a 100% this qualifies as malicious compliance, but here goes: 8 or 9 years ago, I was baker at a popular fast food chain in my country. I always been a model employee, so one day I was surprised the manager asked me into her office. She reprimended me because I had taken a 45 minutes (instead of 30) break one day the previous week. I remembered that day, and indeed I had taken more than 30 minutes, 31
    via u/Ok_Ganache2137
  • 03
    Font - minutes to be exact, and that was because on my way back, someone had a concern that I took the time to resolve. I explained that to her but she was adamant that the system rounded to the nearest 15 minutes and that if it said 45 minutes, than there was no way I could have only been 1 min late. She made it clear that it was my fault and that the punch system is law since it can't lie.
    via u/Ok_Ganache2137
  • 04
    Font - On my next shift, I looked into it. On the punch system, there is a way to see at what time you punched. I realized that the system was not rounding the amount of time you worked/were on break, but rather the time at which you punched. What happened that day was that I punched out at 10h22, rounding to 10h15, and got back 31 minutes later at 10h53, rounding to 11h, hence the 45 minutes break.
    via u/Ok_Ganache2137
  • 05
    Font - Now in my position, I had the luxury of choosing when to go on break as long as they didn't run out of anything during that time. From that day till the day I switched job a few months later, I made sure to go on break just after the cut-off, and back just before the next one. For instance, punching out at 10h08, rounding to 10h15, and back-in at 10h52, rounding to 10h45. I thus ended up with 44
    via u/Ok_Ganache2137
  • 06
    Font - minutes break, that according to the system were only 30 minutes long. One time, a supervisor told me that it seemed like I was gone for a bit longer than usual, I replied that she saw me punching in and out, and that she could go confirm in the system if she wanted to. Never heard from it after that.
    via u/Ok_Ganache2137
  • 07
    Font - tldr: was chewed on because of a weird quirk of the punch system, learned how to use it to my advantage and had 14 minutes extra on all my breaks. EDIT: The manager was also under the impression that the system rounded the amount of break time to the nearest 15 minutes, not the ins and outs. That's also what they tell during recruitment, hence why I initially thought that's how it worked.
    via u/Ok_Ganache2137
  • 08
    Font - The supervisor who noticed was a part-timer, not the same person as the manager. I also don't think they actually cared, just found it strange. Before leaving, I did share the trick with a few coworkers, but since cashiers have a supervisor that coordinate break time, they can't really be late. For them, 1 minute late is actually noticed by someone, let alone 14.
    via u/Ok_Ganache2137
  • 09
    Font - GruneThe Destroyer84 17 hr. ago Had this same system at a job a while back. Started leaving at 3:53 every day. I beat traffic when I did that, and it automatically rounded up to 4:00 every time. When a coworker asked about it I replied "I wouldn't play the game if there wasn't a game to be played." Reply Share Vote ...
    via u/GruneTheDestroyer84
  • 10
    Font - +3.14 hr. ago Boss confrontation: "Where the hell do you think you're going? It ain't four!" ShadowDragon8685 You: "Ah, but it is on the punch-clock, and that's what matters." Boss: "The hell you say?!" You (on the way out the door): "See you tomorrow at 8:07!" Vote Reply Share
    via u/ShadowDragon8685
  • 11
    Font - allonsy_badwolf. 15 hr. ago We have the same system. If you pay attention then you can come 7 minutes late and leave 7 minutes early and get paid for a full shift. Pretty much everyone does that. I'm not going to go in and hand check them and dock 15 minutes even though our state says you can, as long as you don't double dock (so technically I could round your punch in to 7:15, but then I can't dock your punch out to 3:45 or that's against the law). Vote Reply Share
    via u/allonsy_badwolf
  • 12
    Font - Green-Refrigerator50 19 hr. ago Excellent malicious compliance. Micro-time- managerss is one of the most annoying things employers can do. The manager/hr department at my last job started nitpicking the time we badged in and badged out of the building, so even though I got all of my work, was on salary, ate lunch at my desk, and stayed late, I got written up because sometimes I would badge in a few minutes after my scheduled start time. Great way to get a good worker to stop trying. Reply
    via u/Green-Refrigerator50
  • 13
    Font - Indigo0331 · 18 hr. ago Great way to get you to stop working for free. Reply Share Vote Green-Refrigerator50 17 hr. ago Exactly right. Like many I've learned to only do enough to keep my job. Thank god I work at home and don't have to worry about some power-tripping manager looking over my shoulder. Vote Reply Share
    via u/Indigo0331, u/Green-Refrigerator50
  • 14
    Font - CrittendenWildcat. 19 hr. ago Good on OP for gaming the system after the system gamed him. Vote Reply Share Windk86 19 hr. ago I think is dumb how anal some managers can be. did it affect my job performance? no? then shut it. Reply Share Vote
    via u/CrittendenWildcat, u/Wind86
  • 15
    Font - WorldWeary1771. 15 hr. ago This is why companies have wage theft class action lawsuits filed against them. When we updated our time clocks, we eliminated rounding entirely. That said, before the update, we also knew how the rounding worked and would routinely change an employee's clock in or out time for lunch so they weren't cheated of the 15 minutes of pay. Reply Share Vote
    via u/WorldWeary1771
  • 16
    Font - soiledsanchez. 18 hr. ago Punch in systems that round to the nearest select time should be illegal, dollar general(this was like 12 years ago not sure if they still do that) did this and it was so freaking stupid Reply Share Vote Fiddlesticks_53135 17 hr. ago It's straight up wage theft. Not paying you for your full time worked. Reply Share Vote
    via u/soiledsanchez, u/Fiddlesticks_53135
  • 17
    Font - Littleblaze1 12 hr. ago They did it that way when I left around a year ago. We used it to the employee benefit similar to this story. Although usually not with breaks but with clocking in and out at the start and end of shifts. Almost every time I clocked out at end of day would involve the time rounding up in my favor. Usually only a few minutes, like 12 after to 15 after, but sometimes getting the maximum rounding. The managers knew and didn't care. Reply Share Vote
    via u/Littleblaze1
  • 18
    Font - buckaroob88 · 18 hr. ago She got 14 free minutes of work and was complaining? Vote Reply Share Ok_Ganache2137 OP 14 hr. ago She legit thought that I took at least 38 minutes of break. In her head, it rounded the time you were on break to the nearest 15 minutes, not the time at which you punched. That's also why I initially thought that, since that's how they desrcibed it at recruitment. And it was really important that I take the correct break duration.
    via u/buckaroob88, u/Ok_Ganache2137

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Tags

work-shift humor toxic-workplace malicious compliance punch-system horrible-management petty revenge overworked-employee funny terrible-manager
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