'I'd come in three or four hours late': New corporate management instates overreaching attendance policy, worker takes advantage and comes in late

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Sep 12, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

Punishment: A negative stimulus administered in response to you doing something that you shouldn't have done in order to discourage you from doing it again. The hope here is that this would be severe enough to prevent further instances of the behavior. 

While that's all well and good, the punishment needs to fit the crime… if it's not severe enough, the behavior will probably just continue, especially when the person you're trying to incentivize isn't particularly incentivize-able—probably because they're lacking proper motivation for one reason or another. 

On the flip side, if the punishment is too severe—or you take things too far—you might find that it doesn't have the intended result, instead prompting the punished paradoxically further into their undesired behavioral pattern. Similarly, if the punishment for a minor infringement is the same as a major one, you might find that offenders of the minor turn to doing the major because they're going to be punished the same regardless, so they might as well just go all the way.

For instance, if you implement a new policy at your corporate office punishing workers for being late, it doesn't really make sense to give workers the same punishment for arriving mere moments after their scheduled starting time as you would for being hours late. Unless you're one of the many brazenly incompetent managers that are out there, it should be obvious that these two infringements are really very different things. The first entails that you intended to be on time and got caught at one traffic light too many on your way to work, while the second probably happened because you just couldn't be bothered to be there on time.

Yet, this isn't the first time that a blanket policy was applied with broad strokes of a much-too-large brush, and it won't be the last either.

See this worker's account of events that occurred at their workplace when a new corporate policy pushed them to the ends of their sanity, resulting in some serious malicious compliance. 

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  • 01
    Automotive tire - 人文 440 *****
    via Jose Losada

    also via: Andy Beales and insung yoon

  • 02
    Font - Posted by u/ActualMis 5 hours ago Same punishment for being 5 minutes late as being 3 hours late? Sure, no problem! M OC So I'm working for a low-level corporation, about 450 employees. I've been there for 5 years and have risen to the top of my department's productivity levels. I mention this as it does pertain to the story. Management had a policy that latecomers would be penalized, but that lateness could be excused under some circumstances.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 03
    Font - I was good at my job, and I actually loved doing it, so I was more or less a dream employee. I always showed up to work 20- 30 minutes early because I liked to sit in the lunchroom and prepare for my day. Management knew I was almost always early, so if I was late from time to time (and such instances were rare) they'd let it slide, as there was always a valid reason.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 04
    Font - Now for some other employees this latitude wasn't applied. Chronically late employees would get written up and not have their constant lateness excused. They'd complain, of course, but management was firm. They ran an actual meritocracy, where more-productive employees would experience preferential treatment.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 05
    Font - Then the business gets sold and we get new management. An international corp only interested in buying us up, stripping us down and selling off the company. Of course, they denied this constantly, but the fact that over the next 2 years they stripped us down and sold off the company proved they were lying.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 06
    Font - New management comes in and has to make a bunch of idiotic changes. One of those changes is that no reasons for being late are accepted, regardless of validity. Anyone 5+ minutes late for work would be written up. So at the team meeting where this is explained, I asked, "So if someone is 5 minutes late, and someone else is 3 hours late, the punishment is the same?" And they said yes.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 07
    Font - From that day on, I stopped coming in early. I'd still head to work at my usual time, but I sat in a local coffee shop instead of my work's lunchroom. This meant that my work missed out because in the past I would often help out by answering questions, even start work early if needed. Because I loved my job, and the old management were wonderful bosses.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 08
    Font - No more of that under new management. In fact, if something happened (like unexpectedly bad traffic) and I was going to end up being a few minutes late, I'd just say "fait". If being 3 hours late is the same punishment as 5 minutes late, I'd just decide to come in later. I'd call work to tell them I was delayed, then go out and have a leisurely meal in a restaurant, or run some personal errands, go shopping, even see a movie, etc.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 09
    Font - Depending on my mood, and how sho the new management had been lately, what would have been, say, a 7-minute lateness on my part would end up seeing me roll in 3 hours late. Sure, it cost me a few bucks, but I made almost as much in bonuses than I did in hourly salary, so missing out on a few hours here and there didn't bother me too much.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 10
    Font - I'd come in 3 or 4 hours late and my new bosses would be fuming. Nothing they could do though but write me up for the basic tardy, same as they would have if I was 5 minutes late.
    via u/ActualMis
  • 11
    Font - . smdvogrin 4 hr. ago I always love hearing about management that's not familiar with the classics. "What's the punishment for arriving late?" "Death" "What's the punishment for rebellion?" "Death" "Gentlemen, we are LATE." And that's how the rebellion started. ✩ Vote Reply Share
    via u/ActualMis
  • 12
    Font - Thelgow +3 · 4 hr. ago My buddy worked for customer service at a big ISP by us. If you were late, you would get written up, too many in a time frame would be penalties, less days, fired, etc. However, for reasons unknown, NO penalty if you call out same day. So we would randomly get a call from him to hang out because if he got stuck in any traffic and risked being a minute late, he would call out and hang out. 1 less person all day vs a few minutes... The joys of manglement. Vote Reply S
    via u/ActualMis
  • 13
    Font - grauenwolf +3.3 hr. ago The first time I was working in an office I was on salary. My boss said that she didn't care when I showed up but I should try to be there at least by 10:30 in case I need to talk to other people. Since then I have not tolerated any jobs that demand a specific start time and yet still expect me to accept the salary. If I'm working for a wages, then sure I'll clock in exactly at 9:00 a.m. or whatever you want. But if I'm expected to work overtime with no additional
    via u/ActualMis
  • 14
    Font - Lionsden413 · 4 hr. ago I had a job where you could get 12 points in a years time before you got fired. Calling off without 24 hours notice was 1 point. Family emergency? Thats 1 point. No call no show was 1 point. So rather than a quick heads up that you won't be in the night before people just didn't show up, because whats the point of calling off? Vote Reply Share
    via u/ActualMis
  • 15
    Font - 00 SlightlyWornShoe. 4 hr. ago Yeah, a similar rule was implemented in my school, it did not matter if you were 5 minutes late or 2 hours, you still got a hour detention. So it got to the point where if I see I will be 2 minutes late, I slow down, go drink a coffee, go to the park and then come in 1-2 hours late. Vote Reply Share
    via u/ActualMis
  • 16
    Font - Scottysix 3 hr. ago . Yup, worked in a factory for awhile. Being late was the same as not being there that day. (1 point, I forget how many you could get before a official write up). One time was was literally going to be a minute late. (Was in the parking lot and everything). Just turned around and went home, as did anyone else who could afford to. Vote Reply Share ●●●
    via u/ActualMis
  • 17
    Font - +1 -3 hr. ago I am so goddon happy that in my current job i don't have fixed hours. No more having to call in for 3 minutes late because traffic gonna traffic. ✩ Vote cero1399 Reply Share
    via u/ActualMis
  • 18
    Font - BethsMagickMoment - 3 hr. ago I love the idea of a leisurely pace for a 7 minute delay! I worked at a place where it was better to take the day off instead of being tardy. Never understood why because it put the company in a bad position trying to find my replacement for the day rather that wait for me to come in 10 minutes later. Vote Reply Share
    via u/ActualMis
  • 19
    Font - HowCould YouSMH +1.3 hr. ago I headed into work an hour early once. As it happened I was on the highway and a 4' L beam that was in the highway was hit by a semi just to my left, and came right for me. I maneuvered away & it clipped my back tire and rim. If I'd been a second faster with my reflexes would have missed it completely. Instant flat. Call work let them know I'm delayed. I get in 10-15 minutes late. I'm told I can take a comp day & go home or get a tardy. (I also was someone who
    via u/ActualMis
  • 20
    Font - qman3333 2 hr. ago I had a job like that at a call center if you were more than 3 minutes late it was considered missing work and they would mark you as a no show. So guess who would never show when I was more than three minutes late. Sometimes I would be late cause parking was full and had to park further away walk in to clock in, notice I was more than three minutes and walk out and not come back. Boss would be so mad seeing me but hey your gonna mark me as a no call no show anyways Vot
    via u/ActualMis
  • 21
    Font - avengecolonelhughes · 2 hr. ago The hospital my wife works at got bought and they combined sick days+PTO into 1 pool, and call- outs were by "occurrence." 5 or more in a rolling year was a write-up. Sick 5 days: 1 occurrence. Sick on Monday, go to work Tuesday, call out Wednesday: 2 occurrence. They also stopped letting you sell unused PTO and capped it at 30 days. With all the COVID OT, she had like 60 days saved up, so when the fiscal was almost up, she'd just call out for a week. Other
    via u/ActualMis
  • 22
    Font - Wom voting Republican BObsiclese 3 hr. ago I don't know how your brain let you do this, but I'm glad it did. Lol, I would have felt guilty the entire time, which sOs. ↑ Vote ↓ Reply Share
    via u/ActualMis
  • 23
    Font - AwTekker · write me up for the basic tardy Vote 2 hr. ago It's amazing how many Redditors' jobs sound so similar to high school. Vote Reply Share jameson71 1 hr. ago It's almost like school is 12 years of training people to accept this treatment... ●●● Reply Share
    via u/ActualMis

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funny-workplace-story corporate workplace-story malicious compliance work workplace corporate-life
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