Boss cuts back on granting overtime, worker complies and refuses to jump on urgent project after hours: 'All scheduled overtime had to be approved…cool!'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 10, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Cutting back on overtime seems like a convenient way for a manager to reduce their budget, but it's the kind of change that is easier said than done. For instance, if you work at a company that occasionally requires urgent matters, it is not uncommon for those occurrences to fall after general working hours. If management wants to cut back on overtime, they need to consider a solution to these issues and uphold their end of the bargain in the process. It should not be up to their employees to give in to the pressure of completing a project after work hours without the guarantee that they will be properly compensated for their time and efforts. If management cannot give employees that guarantee, then they should not expect the work to be completed when they want it to be done.

Such was the case for this overworked employee, who was used to taking calls after work hours and did not always request overtime pay for quick tasks. However, once the entire overtime policy was flipped on its head, the employee was tired of being generous to a manager who did not have his back in return. Keep scrolling below to see how this malicious compliance proved the employee's point regarding the new bogus overtime policy.

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    Cheezburger Image 10527164160
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • As several members of this online community pointed out, the author probably should never have taken those after-work calls for free, no matter how swift and easy they were to handle. Whether or not he knew it at the time, they established a precedent that overtime policy could be manipulated without the expressed permission of the employees who deserve that pay!

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    I work in a field where urgent response is the entire purpose. My employer became suddenly budget conscious which led to them becoming much more stringent about our (frequent) overtime.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    We were told that all scheduled overtime had to be approved...cool...no issue there. However, when it came to unscheduled overtime, which is where the bulk of overtime came from, the problem arose.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    Any unscheduled overtime would be reviewed after the fact. If it was determined that overtime wasn't justified, we could either be faced being forced to take comp time within the same pay period so that the extra
    via pathofuncertainty
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    time would be negated, or they would attempt to not pay or claw back money (which is illegal).
    via pathofuncertainty
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    Cue malicious compliance in two ways: 1. I tend to work earlier hours than our main office, so it's not uncommon for me to get phone calls once I've returned home.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    Normally not a big deal. I handle the call and go about my day. Most times because it's only a few minutes, I don't even request the overtime
    via pathofuncertainty
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    pay. This all changed once the policy went into effect. The very first day under the new rules I received a call form our main office about 10 minutes after I got
    via pathofuncertainty
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    home. I answered the phone by stating "Hello, my work day ended 10 minutes ago,
    via pathofuncertainty
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    would you like for me to continue this call on overtime, or can this be dealt with to tomorrow?" The response was, "no overtime, this will only take a minute." I
    via pathofuncertainty
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    ultimately ended the call and dealt with the issue the following day. This occurred about a half dozen times over the span of a few days.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    2. I really made my point on this one. I received a phone call after hours that I was needed for an urgent (not emergent-I wouldn't have jeopardized anything to make a point)
    via pathofuncertainty
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    response. I listened to the details of what was occurring, and informed my supervisor that I'd be happy to get on the road...just as soon as
    via pathofuncertainty
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    they'd send me an email stating that an after hours response was required, and overtime for the night was authorized.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    Nothing crazy, just a sentence or two. The response I got was "Just get on the road, I'll send you an email later or tomorrow."
    via pathofuncertainty
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    But I refused. I informed them that I was off duty, and they could either send me the email as requested
    via pathofuncertainty
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    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

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    so I'd be covered, or they could have someone from outside my territory respond in my place (which
    via pathofuncertainty
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    would've delayed the response over an hour). This back and forth continued for about 3-4 minutes until they relented,
    via pathofuncertainty
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    and sent me an email, which I received in about 30 seconds, before I'd even had a chance to use the restroom or grab my keys.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    My points (along with my coworkers who took similar actions) were made. Our leadership only pressed forward with requiring approval for pre scheduled overtime, and even that has gone by the wayside.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    kiwimuz . 14 hr. ago You were only complying with their rules. They obviously never thought this through or listened to staff.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    Kementarii . 11 hr. ago The most ridiculous "overtime has to be approved" policy I had to comply with was at an airport. You know? Everything is time critical, and delays happen, regular airport.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    So let's introduce "no overtime will be paid, unless it is approved in advance by Airport Manager". Note that this manager role is a 9-5 job. At the end of the night, there are a few critical staff left on the premises. Someone to put the
    via pathofuncertainty
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    airbridges to the aircraft and open the doors, a small team to unload the bags, and someone in the arrival area to deal with lost bags. Previously, it was just accepted that if you were on that "last shift" there would be overtime sometimes and
    via pathofuncertainty
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    you couldn't just walk out, you stayed until the work was done - even if you didn't want the overtime, you did it. It was midnight-ish, and there was nobody else there to do it.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    Last aircraft scheduled to land was running 2 hours late? No option but to stay and wait for it. Anyhow, Madam decided that her new rules applied to this shift as well. No exceptions.
    via pathofuncertainty
  • 28
    Oh how we loved phoning her at 11pm - Hello. Last flight is delayed, and estimated to arrive 15 minutes late. Do we have permission to stay and work overtime? We don't really want to cost the company money, so we are happy to leave at the end of our shift if you want.
    via pathofuncertainty
  • 29
    She drove us mad for a while, then gave in, and went elsewhere in the company.
    via pathofuncertainty

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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work employees overworked-employees Horrible Bosses overtime workplace malicious compliance toxic-work-environment
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