'We can't let our dog outside if we're not on break': Boss demands work-from-home employees text him every time they leave their desks, inspires malicious compliance solutions

Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor

May 8, 2024 8:00 PM EDT

It's not always easy to monitor employees working from home. If you're in an office, you can look over your lackey's shoulder and see if they're bidding on a Cartman pinball machine on eBay instead of filling out their Excel Sheet. Being a WFH boss is much more challenging, especially if you're a total micromanager. Most good bosses will simply look at their employee's output when working from home and judge their productivity based on that, but that would be too easy. One boss recently went viral on Reddit for tracking his employees' every move while working from home. He claimed they couldn't take their dog outside or check the mail without telling him, which is absurd for a remote position. Now, he's enforcing a new rule where employees must message him whenever they get up from their computer, whether to sign for a package or go to the bathroom.