'Phone must be off during work? You're the boss': Employees lose customers for hours after their bosses insist they turn off all mobile phones

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 3, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

Turn all phones off? Okay, if you say so…

Phones in the workplace are quite the divisive topic. You could argue that these days, people really need their cell phones to run their lives effectively. For example, if you're at work, but you get a call or text that your child is sick and you need to get them from school, having your phone on you is the best way to communicate.

On the other side of the coin, however, phones are so addictive that it's easy to get lost for hours browsing social media and chatting with friends. In the workplace, even a few minutes of phone time is too much for many bosses. This person's boss is no exception. They laid down the law — no phones at work whatsoever. Okay, whatever you say, boss.

This OP, u/Super-Monkfish, shared their tale of malicious compliance that took place when they worked at a betting shop. It was the morning of a big horse racing event when they decided to comply with their boss's rules, no matter how impractical. 

Check out this story, plus delighted commenters who added their own thoughts. Then, read this story about a family who visited a college campus, only to majorly embarrass themselves by overreacting. 

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  • 01
    Azure
    via Ameen ALmayuf on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - Phone must be off during Work? You're the boss. SOC Happened back in 2015 roughly. I was working at a betting shop, pretty large one that anyone from UK has probably heard of. We were open from 8am to 10pm. One big rule was mobile phones were to be turned off during work hours, no ifs or buts.
    via u/Super-Monkfish
  • 03
    Font - Cue the morning of the Epsom Derby, a big horse racing event and the start of my 12 hour shift. During setup, we had a problem with our Internet. The tills, FOBTS (fixed odd betting terminals) and internal phone line were all connected by the Internet, meaning until it was fixed we could take literally no money.
    via u/Super-Monkfish
  • 04
    Font - I waited and waited, about 3 hours had gone and nothing had improved and I had no way of letting anyone know, my phone HAD to be off. At about 5pm, we eventually had Internet back.
    via u/Super-Monkfish
  • 05
    Font - Not long after, I eventually got a call from my area manager, as to why there was no money taken. After a lot of huffs and puffs, he hung up. I was just following the rules.
    via u/Super-Monkfish
  • 06
    Font - A short while after, maybe about 20 minutes, I get another phone call from said manager, asking if I could take pictures of the marketing screens to make sure they had loaded correctly and then send them to him.
    via u/Super-Monkfish
  • 07
    Font - No I can't, sorry, my phone needs to be off. He had to do a 3 hour drive to the shop to check himself.
    via u/Super-Monkfish
  • 08
    Font - Stabbmaster +3. Sending an email saying to use proper discretion would solve literally all of his problems surrounding this.
    via u/Stabbmaster
  • 09
    Rectangle - Tymanthius +2 So he needs to buy a back up cell for the shop for times like this. :D
    via u/Tymanthius
  • 10
    Font - Spaceman2901. Nope, still a cell phone. I'm not touching that.
    via u/Spaceman2901
  • 11
    Font - ChaosStar95 Had a similar supervisor institute this rule. "if i find you on your phone I'm sending you home for the day." She denied my time off request. I lightbulbed ten minutes into my shift. She sent me home. Called me three hours later asking me to come in bc they were swamped, she'd even be so gracious as to pay me the full day, nah i had tickets to a concert i was already on the way to.
    via u/ChaosStar95
  • 12
    Font - BatmansTherapist What is great about this is that all the manager had to do was admit there are times when using a phone at work is appropriate and but he is so soft he couldn't admit it and just lit time and money on fire to save his paper thin ego. "I'm good at business!"
    via u/BatmansTherapist
  • 13
    Font - bilgediver Problem is, that would have to come out as a written policy. Verbal policy changes somehow are affected by amnesia "I never said that you could"
    via u/ bilgediver
  • 14
    Font - or The_Sanch1128 +2. Well played. Had you taken that picture and sent it, he or someone at Almighty Corporate would have used it to give you the sack. "It was a test. You failed." 301 Reply Share Super-Monkfish OP. Oh of course. I hated that job, I've got so many stories from that place, most infuriating place I've ever worked. It was enough to make a nun swear.
    via u/The_Sanch1128
  • 15
    Font - RJack151 +2 Sounds like the shift leader should have had a company phone. lol 43 Reply Share Super-Monkfish OP. You would think, wouldn't You?
    via u/RJack151
  • 16
    Font - zerkrazus Let me guess, one or 2 people were on their phones too much (in the manager's opinion, not mine), and instead of punishing them, they decided to punish everyone. Yes, because that always works well and never backfires.... In my experience, it seems to be somewhat of a generational thing in regards to people doing things other than work while at work.
    via u/zerkrazus
  • 17
    Font - I'm a Xennial and of the opinion that as long as you're getting your work done, who the f cares what else you're doing, as long as you're not hurting yourself or others. The whole idea of you must stand/sit there quietly and do nothing or the old stupid BS: "time to lean time to clean," especially when you literally just cleaned the same thing 5 minutes before. I never understood the point other than it being about them controlling people. So dumb.
    via u/zerkrazus
  • 18
    Smile - okaymoose Good. If they want stupid rules then they'll have to work stupid hours.
    via u/okaymoose
  • 19
    Gesture - zedzenzerro "I'd be happy to take pictures. Where's the company camera?"
    via u/zedzenzerro
  • 20
    Font - Xandrya I hope they disclosed this during the hiring process. What if you're a single parent or something and God forbid they need to get a hold of you? It isn't fair to pass up on other (better) offers if they're this strict.
    via u/Xandrya

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customers jobs race iPhones phone united kingdom phones workplace malicious compliance workplace-stories malicious-compliance-reddit
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