'Don’t want me start before 8:00? Fine!': Micromanaging boss refuses to let employee clock in before 8:00 AM, employee maliciously complies to prove a point

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
May 12, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Who knew that you could be punished for showing up to work early? This micromanager decided that it was a good use of her time and resources to encourage employees who show up early to the office to start working without officially clocking in. The purpose, of course, was to avoid paying anyone a cent of overtime while pushing for workers to do their jobs off the clock. Maybe back in the day, she would have gotten away with this nonsense without an issue, but in today's world, this kind of treatment does not fly.

What I don't understand is that if this boss is so concerned with not paying overtime, could she not institute a policy where if people clock in early, then they should clock out early? Of course, that would require management to ensure that they aren't overly dependent on employees staying on the job until the last possible minute. However, if they need to stay until the end, then they should not be encouraged to work at all before clocking in. Regardless, there are ways to come up with mutually beneficial solutions for bosses and their workers. It doesn't need to look like this!

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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The author was able to use a healthy dose of malicious compliance to prove management wrong regarding this bogus new work policy. If she didn't want people to start working officially before 8:00 AM, then they didn't need to do any work, no matter what the circumstances were. Keep scrolling below to see how they managed to pull this off!

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    Years ago I worked for this complete psycho at a semi public. service type place. Moody, arrogant (my first week there, she must have mentioned having a PhD/doctorate/I'm a doctor at least half a dozen times), and the
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    biggest g snob I've ever met. We had flexible work hours, spread of hours between 7:00 am & 6:00 pm, signing on in 15 minute increments. If I had a really good run in traffic,
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    sometimes I'd get there in time to sign on at 7:30 or 7:45. Well, psycho Dr didn't like that, and said I couldn't start before 8:00, despite everyone else in the office being allowed to. I
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    explained that sometimes if the traffic was good I got in earlier than that, but she wouldn't have it. Told me if I got in early, I could read through my work emails but I couldn't sign on before 8:00, so
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    basically she expected me to give 15-30 minutes free labor. Yeah, nah, screw that. So if I got in early, and the weather was nice, I'd sit outside, or if it wasn't, I'd sit at my desk and read. My
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    Kindle. Or play on my phone. And didn't switch my computer on until bang on 8:00. Her boss. came by early one morning wanting to collect something she'd left in the office for him,
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    and of course the office wasn't open and she demanded to know where I was. I reminded her that I wasn't allowed to start before 8:00, which I could tell royally
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    p I her off, but there was nothing she could do about as I had the email trail to back me up. Small potatoes in terms of malicious compliance, but it made me feel good.
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    . Odd_Gamer_75 • 14h ago Small potatoes are still nourishing. Take all you can get... They go good in stews anyway.
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    CoderJoe1 • 14h ago Those potatoes fit here perfectly in our malicious compliance stew.
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    Beneficial_Test_5... 14h ago . With her PhD, she knows better than you, because you have no PhD and she does have a Phd, about scheduling the appropriate activities -- "appropriate"
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    being defined by someone. with a Phd like hers -- that are to be carried out in the course of a workday in a place that hired someone her -- with a PhD, which you don't have, only she with her PhD has.
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    When you, who unlike her, has no PhD, get your PhD, like she has, you can object.
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    Fredredphooey • 12h ago. I used to work with a guy who started almost every sentence with "As a social scientist, I..."
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    Aftet about six months into this t e, I was able to start a sentence to him, "Well, since you're a social scientist..." and watch his face freeze up. Priceless.
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    bunbun_pss • 7h ago I used to have this issue too. I had a 40 mins commute on limited trains, so I was either very early or very late to work. I'd spend my 30mins. of being early to research my clients background to help with filing their appeals and such later in the day.
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    My boss saw this and didn't like it. Told me to spend my time before work doing mindless admin things like sorting files. At 7.30am? Yeah, no.
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    So guess who spent time eating breakfast at the café by the elevator until 7.58am every morning thereafter.
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workplace-stories micromanager work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work Horrible Bosses reddit thread bad bosses Reddit company workplace malicious compliance entitled people toxic-work-environment
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