'[He] doesn't understand the consequences': Boss demands IT worker shut down company emails all weekend, quickly regrets locking himself out

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 20, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

Every worker at this company had a peaceful weekend after their boss cut off everyone's email access. 

This boss reminds me of cats who really want to go outside when it's raining, so you don't let them out. When they finally get you to let them out, they immediately get drenched and want to come back inside. They'll look at you with this squint of anger, but of course, it's the cat's fault. Basically, some lessons are learnt the hard way because you can't anticipate the consequences of your actions. 

U/Lucyiha worked in the IT field at a bank, where she was responsible for numerous levels of support for admin. She notes that all of her job duties don't mean that she's well paid — in fact, her boss brags about her "getting so much money for basically doing nothing." As if that wasn't infuriating enough, the OP's weekends are spent monitoring for server issues, since they could happen at any time. 

Everything changed when the big boss told this IT professional that in order to give his employees a break [read: not pay them overtime]. Instead of working on weekends, he decided the best solution would be to cut off the email access to absolutely everybody. Yes, everybody, and crucially, he demands no exceptions to the rule. Maybe you already know where this is heading… scroll down to check out this great story. 

After that, check out these chefs who were left scratching their heads over these wild substitutions customers insisted upon. 

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  • 01
    Font - Boss wants to cut off ALL employees and workers from their email access over the weekend but doesn't understand the consequences L OC Hello everyone, this is my first post here and wanted to share my greatest work story. My native language isn't English, so please excuse when my grammar is a bit simple.
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 02
    Font - The story starts with me and my company, I'm a 30-year-old businesswoman who works in an IT service in a bank space. I'm the girl for everything basically, but I'm a specialist for first level support, administration and backup, sometimes even networking. Even when I'm not head of my it department, I'm basically had all the responsibilities of them, but unfortunately my pay grade doesn't reflect that at all. I think of my Boss of my IT department as kinda lazy if not incompetent, he even
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 03
    Font - I have a 40-hour week, but since the whole IT department is my responsibility I need to keep track of the servers and maybe problems that can occur 24/7, this is mostly done via emails. When the server status gives out a warning or a failure, I will get notified, and then I'm fixing the problem over remote desktop or going to the company itself (even in my free time). I wouldn't mind this, but I'm not getting paid for this, but on the other hand, I'm getting punished when something is goi
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 04
    Font - My Bosses Boss wasn't that much better. Since it was a fancy Bank, everyone should be in a suit the whole time, to let it look professional, best with a skirt and high heels. Only problem is when you work in the first level support you need to do a lot of "behind the scenes" work, like slipping under the desk to do or repair cable management, doing work on the server rack and doing lots of other activities that makes you dirty. You can imagine that this worn out my business clothes really
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 05
    Font - So this, so much for the introduction. Someday, my Bosses Boss (head of the whole company) called me. He had a plan. He wanted to create "quiet hours", means he didn't want his employees working on weekends to let them rest properly. (At first glance, you could say: Hey, that's a nice idea. Yeah.... no, he just didn't like to pay them for overwork, because he got in some legal trouble with overwork paying in general. Not only that, some employees have strict deadlines and need the extra t
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 06
    Font - To actively ensure nobody can't work over the weekend, he wanted the following: "Please make sure NO ONE can access their emails and remote desktop over the weekend, no exceptions!" Since we had a ticket system and be able to attach emails to tickets, I ask him to write and official work task. (this has two reasons. First, I like everything documented. Second, I have a something to protect and secure myself if the task I was giving is incorrect. And it's exactly this that saved me)
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 07
    Font - So I was in my office desk again, thinking how to get the task done and what implication it will have and then... it was clear to me what it meant! The email came from my Boss with the Task and indeed he wrote : "for EVERYONE, NO EXCEPTIONS". I was thinking to myself: Should I write them, the implications it would have? After thinking, I thought of how I am treated as a worker and I... decided against it.
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 08
    Font - was working immediately at this task and made an automated process to block every access to emails after Friday 6PM to Monday 6AM.
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 09
    Font - Weekend came, and it was Saturday, and I was calm relaxed because if you have not noticed by now, by cutting down EVERYONE'S emails, means of course... that I don't receive any updates on the Servers. I can't possibly work on it because my remote access is also cut, of course. (IF you think: You could forward your work email address to your private address, no I can't because we have a very strict data protection. Nothing is allowed to go out.) I'm happy! It's still Saturday, middle of th
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 10
    Font - He talks with a stressed voice and told me that he can't access his emails. I needed a second to process this, but I responded : "That doesn't surprise me at all, since you ordered me to cut EVERYONE's email access, without exceptions". He was angry, very angry, and told me that this obviously doesn't count for him. I told him that he specifically told me that they are NO exceptions, and he stated EVERYONE. He then argued that this wasn't how he phrased it, so I reread him his own email.
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 11
    Font - replied that he wants to have it done immediately, and I calmly explained to him that I can't do this, since my remote access is also blocked, like he ordered. He hanged up... 10 minutes later, he calls me again. He asks me calmly if I can fix the problem right now when he pays me for my overwork. He also wants me to be available at any time (means I should receive my emails and be able to remote work) and that this will raise my pay grade by a lot. I thought that this is the perfect oppo
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 12
    Font - Since then my work situation drastically improved and mostly only because I Maliciously complied, well aware of the consequences of the given task.
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 13
    Font - mizinamo +3. It's not a problem until it's his problem! 1.8k Reply Share Lucyiha OP I thought a lot before I complied because I was completely aware what the consequences are.
    via u/mizinamo
  • 14
    Font - Lord_Kuruk You're the workplace hero: elevated yours and everyone's conditions with work clothes, nicely taught your boss some humility, and got a well- deserved promotion! Congrats btw.
    via u/Lord_Kuruk
  • 15
    Font - brknsoul +2 Heh, if you're not being paid for being on call, why answer the phone in the first place? It can wait til monday! 540 Lucyiha OP Reply Share You are definitely not wrong here. When I received the call I was full aware what he probably would say, and I couldn't stand the curiosity
    via u/brknsoul
  • 16
    Font - Cloud9_Forest So did the world end because nobody could access their email on the weekend?
    via u/Cloud9_Forest
  • 17
    Font - linux1970 +2 I love that you blocked your own access. 212 Reply Share Lucyiha OP I knew full well that I couldn't access myself in any way over the weekend, but I really enjoyed the silence for once!
    via u/linux1970
  • 18
    Font - Wadsworth_McStumpy +1. IF you think: You could forward your work email address to your private address I assure you, nobody here was thinking that. The IT people here were all wondering why you didn't take the opportunity for a weekend out of town, with your cell phone turned off. That might have been pushing it too far, though.
    via u/Wadsworth_McStumpy
  • 19
    Font - Lucyiha OP I thought about this, but it was nice to relax for once and I knew that probably something like this will happen, Im glad I did because my Boss finally saw the problem.
    via u/Lucyiha
  • 20
    Font - GreenEggPage +4. As I told my employees, never ever work for free. You are selling your time, knowledge, and skills. Those are valuable. Get paid for that. Try telling the bank that you're not going to pay the interest on your loan and see how flexible they are about that. Or tell your cell phone provider you aren't paying all of your bill for last month. 85 Reply Share Lucyiha OP. Exactly, turns out they are very unflexible!
    via u/GreenEggPage
  • 21
    Font - Naagyo. Good on you for getting everything in writing. Always have evidence! 57 ↓ Reply Share Lucyiha OP Yeah, I did it once or twice having only verbal communication and that backfired because of miscommunication, better have everything written.
    via u/Naagyo
  • 22
    Facial expression - yingyangyoung You singlehandedly conducted a company wide strike. I love it!
    via u/yingyangyoung

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boss malicious compliance coworkers malicious-compliance-reddit weekends emails weekend company information technology
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