Boss forces worker to stay and work late despite having nothing to do, gets paid to read: 'My boss was speechless'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Apr 3, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

"People who work hard work more hours…" This is probably something you've heard before and probably from your boss who wants everyone to know how many hours a week they work, wearing their overworkedness like a badge of honor—a testament to their dedication. The thing is… Is this even true? Where did this idea that sitting at your desk for more hours mean you're working harder even come from? It's not as if the simple amount of hours you work actually has any bearing on how much work you've done or what your production output is. For all we know, you're just sitting at your desk for half that time twiddling your thumbs while your counterparts manage as much productivity in half the time. It's not as if every worker is always going to have an infinite amount of work to do; at a certain point in the week during a slow period, you're stretching things out as much as possible to make it look like you're doing something. What office worker hasn't, at some point, experienced the standoff that is waiting for your old-fashioned boss to leave the office so that you can go home without being judged despite having finished your work sometime before?

And yet, this idea is one that a lot of managers and workplaces hold on to, like this manager who demanded that their workers stay and work overtime to show their mettle even when not necessary. This worker maliciously complied with the request, staying put at their desk, reading their book, and getting paid for it. 

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  • 01
    "My boss was speechless."
    via Alice Hampson
  • 02
    boss demands overtime pay for zero work?? Okay!! S So, this happened a while back, but the memory still brings a smirk to my face whenever I think about it. I used to work for a company where the boss had this habit of demanding that we stay late, even when there was absolutely no work left to be done. It was one of those toxic environments where productivity was measured by the hours you spent at your desk rather than the actual output of your work.
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 03
    One day, after wrapping up all my tasks well before the end of the day, my boss came over and told me that I needed to stay late because "that's just how things are done around here." Mind you, there was literally nothing left for me to do. Now, instead of arguing or trying to reason with him, I decided to play along with his ridiculous demand for overtime pay.
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 04
    I nodded, grabbed a book I had been meaning to read, and settled back into my chair. For the next two hours, I sat at my desk, flipping through pages, occasionally pretending to jot down notes, and looking as busy as possible. At the end of those two hours, my boss came by to check on me, expecting to see me toiling away at some imaginary task. Instead, he found me reading a novel.
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 05
    He looked puzzled and asked, "What are you doing?" With a straight face, I replied, "Well, you asked me to stay late, so I figured I might as well put in some overtime. This book has been on my reading list for a while." Needless to say, my boss was speechless. He couldn't really argue with me since he had asked me to stay late, and I was technically still on the clock.
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 06
    From that day forward, he never asked me to stay late unless there was actual work to be done. Malicious compliance at its finest. TL;DR: Boss demanded I stay late for no reason, so I decided to put in overtime by reading a book at my desk.
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 07
    JustSomeGuy_56 I had a contracting gig with a large financial services company. My little group was part of a much bigger department that generated the annual tax forms. They were incredibly busy from January 2 through April. The guy who ran the department issued an edict that everyone had to put in 10 hours each day and work Saturdays if necessary.
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 08
    Our little group had nothing to do with the tax statements but people complained when we were seen leaving at 5PM. So we were told to stay late as well. I asked if that applied to me and and the other contractors and was told "Everyone. No exceptions" We were happy to do so since we were being paid by the hour. When we submitted our invoice for January he almost wet his pants and decided that the OT rule didn't apply to us. 2.2K Reply ↑ Share
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  • 09
    IlikethequietZeppo I had a colleague that finished at 4pm. off because she was People got always leaving "early". No, she got there before her 8am start, they just didn't see her working until they casually strolled in some time after 9. One day, when big boss (who she worked directly for) was away, manager was in charge. He sneered you can't leave before 5pm.
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 10
    "Ok, let me go and talk to our CFO and see about overtime rates. I work from 8 until 4pm. I manage my time well, and get all my work done." He spluttered about being salaried and therefore no overtime rates applied. With perfect timing big boss called from overseas. I gleefully transferred the call to her. Best thing about a fairly open plan office, is you could hear everything from the reception desk, also one of the worst things too.
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 11
    I heard her say " until 5pm, with no overtime pay, or reason mentioned. Have you got a particular task requiring me to stay?...... He wants to talk manager insists I stay face" to you + 697 Reply ↑ Share
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 12
    grauenwolf I miss working for the military. My job was to test software. I knew it was broken, but the logs were empty. So many a night I spent reading a book and just waiting for it to crash with the hope of I'd catch it in the act. I never did figure the got a lot of reading in. ✩ 475 thing out, but I Reply ↑ Share
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  • 13
    KlutzyEnd3 I've done something similar as well. I had no work, as I was scheduled for a project that was about to start, but kept getting postponed, so untill the project started, I had nothing. When asking for work I didn't get any, So I just started reading a book. Then my boss came "we get complaints that you're reading a book during work hours" and I was like "yes those
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 14
    complaints, that was my goal!" boss looked confused and I said "I wanted to show the entire department that I'm out of work, which I've told you for a few days already, If that's a problem: give me work to do! cause I dislike sitting here for nothing just as much as you do!" 2 hours later and he got some small tasks for me. which I completed way too quickly, but at least that was something... 318 Reply ↑ Share
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  • 15
    Starrion During Y2K our support team was told to do overnight on new years and plan to be on 16 hour shifts for a week. Food was provided. There was a hotel nearby to crash. The company had spent two years. preparing everything for the four digit year. We sat there collecting our overtime eating Chinese food and subs and whatnot for three days. We got four actual tickets between the twelve of us. 133 Reply ↑ Share
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  • 16
    Frogsama86 My job requires me to go different sites at times. This results in me coming in to office after lunch or leaving at lunch. My boss knows this. One day HR tells me that people are not happy seeing me leave early or arrive late. I let them know I will fix it. Ever since then if I had a site to go to, I will not go to office for the day. 241 Reply ↑ Share
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  • 17
    chenyu768 I was working during college for a huge oil company as an admin/assistant. My boss, after i finished my work, would offer me "standby OT", basically stay in the office and do my homework for 2hrs a day at time and a half pay. When i graduated and was quitting so i can do a trip before getting into the "real world" he said i forgot to tell you about your 2 week vacation benefit. Basically paid me for the next 2 weeks whole i was on vacation then put in my resignation. Still the coolest
    via Fun-Pin9061
  • 18
    hqxsenberg A guy I knew worked IT for the banking sector on night shifts. His job basically was to wait if something happened and then fix the issue. But the system were fairly robust and didnt have anything that required his attention more than once or twice a week. The rest of the time he spent playing Quake World (happy times). He got fairly good at Quake :) 134 Reply ↑ Share ...
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