‘You Won’t Be Paid for This Mandatory Meeting. Also, From Now on You Will Dress for the Job You Want’ : Nepo-Baby Company Lacks Code of Conduct, Micromanager Makes up Rules for Employees, Leading To Malicious Compliance

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Feb 21, 2023 12:00 PM EST

Micromanagers are suffocating bosses who don't trust you to get the job done and certainly don't trust you to get it done right. This one in particular, 'Sally', was working in a company that was known for its nepotism. The upper-tier management was made up of family members and close friends. The woman who posted the story about micromanagement that led to malicious compliance shared the tale on Reddit — where she gained a lot of sound advice actually.

See, this micromanager ordered the employees to attend a mandatory weekly meeting — unpaid. Which is illegal. So not only was this manager annoyingly bad at her job, but she was also incredibly entitled and delusional. Now, on to the dress code — the company had no written code of conduct. But Sally decided that from then on, the employees must 'dress for the job they want, not the job they have'. 

Which is utterly ridiculous. You're basically admitting that the job they have is terrible. That doesn't exactly encourage them to want to stay there or put in any effort, Sally. Anyhow, what followed was a mix of some fun petty revenge, or rather, malicious compliance. Scroll down to read the detailed account. For more, you can also check out this tale of malicious compliance that has to do with the all-too-familiar attendance system. The employee got fed up after being micromanaged (I'm sensing a pattern here) and made sure to do exactly what his employer said — to a maliciously delicious T.

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670 5 hours ago Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. M OC
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 02
    Font - I work for a family business with 30+ employees. This is a company that has friends and family members as top-tiered Management and often made up rules. whenever they felt like it. When new employees join the company, they sign a basic employment contract stating the compensation, benefits and work hours. The company does not have a written code of conduct.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 03
    Font - One particular manager is a friend of the President. Let's call her Sally. Sally manages a team of 8 employees, including myself. We aren't allowed to make small talk WHILE working and we are required to let her know when we start taking our breaks, and when we return from breaks. Sally interjects whenever a team member is asking another team member questions because Sally is a micromanager.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 04
    Font - Sally also makes us come to work early once a week for 30 minutes (unpaid) so that she can recap the previous week and often uses this time to tell us what we're doing wrong. She made it clear that that this weekly meeting is mandatory.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 05
    Font - During one meeting,she brought up expectations for continued employment at the workplace - no swearing, no talking bad about customers amongst ourselves, no personal phones on desks, no music during work hours, no talking to other departments unless it's work related etc.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 06
    Font - Then she brought up dress code. It's important to note that we've never heard of a dress code at work and our jobs do not require face to face interactions with customers. Most of our dealings are via phones or e-mails. We may see a
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 07
    Font - customer drop by once or twice a year. Most of the team members wear hoodies/ long-sleeved t-shirts with jeans or leggings. I usually wear a simple top with pants with my hair neatly blow-dried. Apparently, that's not appropriate enough.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 08
    Font - Sally said we should try to dress better and more professionally to keep up with the company's image. Her sell was "Dress not for the job you have, but the job you want". She made us all sign a document citing the topic of discussion at the meeting.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 09
    Font - You want us to dress for the job we want? Okay. A few of my colleagues and I decided to maliciously comply the following day. I put my hair in a messy bun, wore my Costco leggings and my husband's old t-shirt. That was my everyday look when I was unemployed.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 10
    Font - Sally saw me when I walked through the door and asked why I was underdressed. I said "you asked us to dress for the job I want. I want to go back to being a stay-at- home-mom. I loved staying at home." She said "That's not what I meant. I meant bigger aspirations and goals" as she looked at me with exasperation.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 11
    Font - Shortly after, my other colleagues showed up one after the other -two wearing full workout gear and one wore her Anime costume. One guy wore a t-shirt with expletives. The President noticed and asked us if Halloween came early and we told him what Sally said. I don't know what happened but safe to say, there was no mention of any dress code since.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 12
    Font - TLDR: Manager asked us to dress for the job we want, not for the job we have so I dressed as a stay-at-home mom.
    via u/Gloomy_Ideal_3670
  • 13
    Font - Onk virtualchoirboy +3.5 hr. ago Good job on the dress code response. I'm also sure you know that mandatory meetings must be paid time. Period. It's settled labor law and any state labor department will happily enforce it. If you ever decide you've had enough, file a complaint about being forced to be at work but unpaid. You'll get a nice check for back pay, possibly with interest. Reply Share Vote
    via u/virtualchoirboy
  • 14
    Font - StormBeyond Time +2.4 hr. ago And some states make the 3x-5x the stolen wages, plus fines. In my state, fines start at $10,000 and can be charged per count -which could be each employee for each meeting. So 8 employees = $80,000. For each week this has been going on. And that's if DoL's nice -the upper range, usually, is $50,000. Plus some states, L&I also gets in on the fun.
    via u/StormBeyondTime
  • 15
    Font - +2 22 min. ago This! OP, contact your labor department and tell them about this. They'll help you report if. Find any written documentation you have about these meetings and how they're mandatory. Emails or texts will do great, but make backup copies of them. If you don't have any get her to admit to them in an email, or even record a conversation with her without her knowing, if your state allows that. Lostmox
    via u/Lostmox
  • 16
    Font - That company owes you and everyone you work with a lot of money! Your time is valuable. You earned that money. Don't let them get away with it! Reply Share Vote
    via u/Lostmox
  • 17
    Font - vkIMF 4 hr. ago People always say this, but get upset when I show up in power armor. Vote Reply Share torolf_212 +2.4 hr. ago I mean, if you actively want to be a space marine that's pretty concerning Vote Reply Share
    via u/vkIMF, u/torolf_212
  • 18
    Font - AerOuAntG3alach +3.4 hr. ago As others have said, you must be paid for time in mandatory meetings. Contact your state labor department and find out your rights. Then go to HR. Reply Share Vote Yangy 46 min. ago HR are there to protect the company, and if other senior staff are all family, the head of HR likely is as well.
    via u/AerOuAntG3alach, u/Yangy
  • 19
    Font - csandazoltan. 4 hr. ago Mandatory meetings are paid, there is no such thing as you need to come early and not paid. You can send the micromanaging manager away, to "stop bothering you or you will report her to her manager" for disrupting work You don't sign anything you don't want to. You can strike off things you don't agree with before signing
    via u/csandazoltan

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Tags

humor micromanagement dress code toxic-workplace malicious compliance terrible-boss petty revenge understaffed-team horrible-manager rules-of-conduct overworked-employees
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