'Work smarter, not harder': New boss gets rid of overtime policy despite team's concerns, employees maliciously comply and boss ends up scrambling

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 3, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

This is what happens when people try to fix something that simply is not broken. Such is the case for new managers who feel the need to assert their fresh authority and advocate for changes without carefully understanding the needs of employees. Of course, in this scenario, no company should be so reliant on overtime work in order for important orders with big-name clients to be completed. However, a rapid shift to a "no overtime" policy without devising a system to make up for this loss demonstrates a total lack of capable leadership on the part of this new so-called "manager."

The author is an employee who is accustomed to having to put in those extra hours on a regular basis. Despite the fact that he ultimately knew this reliance was unhealthy and not sustainable, still, it takes a collaborative effort for these kinds of changes to be made effectively and without painful consequences for both the company and for the employees.

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

  • The author and their team knew almost instantly that maliciously complying with their manager's new “no overtime” policy would backfire for the company at large within about two weeks. However, the author also knew that the only way for their boss to understand the full scope of the damage he had done would be to say nothing and follow orders.

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    I originally posted this as a comment on another thread, but a few people messaged me saying I should give it its own post. So here we are.
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    About ten years ago, I worked for a mid-sized manufacturing company that did contract work for a lot of big-name tech companies. We were always
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    under pressure to meet tight deadlines, and it was common for employees (especially on my team) to rack up a ton of overtime. We weren't forced, but
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    we were compensated really well for it. I was young, hungry for the extra cash, and honestly proud of helping the team hit goals.
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    Enter new management. Our old supervisor retired and was replaced by a guy I'll call Dan. Dan came in hot, trying to "shake things up" and "streamline operations." Classic. One of his first big changes? He decided
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    that too much overtime was making him look bad to higher- ups. Said it made it seem like he couldn't manage his team's workload. So he called a meeting
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    and announced that going forward, we were not allowed to log overtime unless it was pre- approved in writing. And spoiler: he wasn't going to approve it.
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    We tried to warn him. We told him how much we actually needed that extra time to hit the ridiculous deadlines that were promised to clients. He waved it off, said we should "work smarter, not harder." So fine. We did exactly what he wanted.
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    We all stopped working overtime cold turkey. No staying late to help the next shift, no logging in early, no coming in on Saturdays to prep for big shipments. We worked our 8-hour shifts and clocked out, nothing more.
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    At first Dan was thrilled. He kept bragging in meetings about how he'd "fixed the overtime problem." But within two weeks, the cracks started showing.
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    Orders got delayed. Shipments missed deadlines. Customers started calling, p ed off about late deliveries. Dan started staying late himself trying to
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    figure out why things were falling apart, but the dude had no clue what actually went into the day- to-day work.
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    It all came to a head about a month in. We missed a massive delivery for one of our biggest clients, and they threatened to pull their contract. Dan ended up in a panic, trying to throw overtime at us to catch up. By
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    then, most of us were over it. A few people bailed and found other jobs. I stayed long enough to watch him eat crow, then I moved on too.
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    The best part? The higher-ups eventually figured out that his no-overtime policy was the root of the problem, and he was "let go" (aka fired) about six months after he started.
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    Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for when you try to fix things that aren't broken.
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    vaisatriani · 20m ago It always floors me when new people come in and feel the need to put their stamp on things without understanding the rhythm of the business first.
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    Maleficent_Fig365 23m ago • Work smarter, not harder - Dan, as the ship went down. Irony at its finest!
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    Tremenda-Caruc... 19m ago It's amazing how fast everything went to h I once they stopped overtime, management should've listened to the team instead
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    of forcing a top-down approach, but at least you all handled it with some dignity and got rid of someone who clearly didn't know what they were doing... it's refreshing to see that kind of accountability in action.
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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work employees overworked-employees Horrible Bosses overtime company toxic-work-environment
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