Employee told they're not allowed to work from home, when they're asked to finish something urgently on the weekend they remind management of "the policy": 'I will get to it on Monday whenever I have the opportunity. Everything will be late'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jul 22, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Some people want to have their cake and eat it too; those people, apparently, go on to own or manage businesses.

I've had this happen at a retail job where I managed. The store closed and doors locked at 6:00 PM, and our shifts were scheduled to end at that point, but that was never going to be possible. There were cash registers that still had to be cashed up, doors to be locked, and plenty of things to tidy and wrap up. Just the time it took to walk around the large store to do this could take you five minutes.

And that was before you even accounted for the fact that there were almost always customers still in the store when the doors closed. The shop was in a central business district, so it was incredibly common to have people getting off work coming through to grab something.

Someone somewhere up the chain got sick of all the "overtime" that was being reported and decided to put a stop to it (we weren't even paid time and a half, so what did it matter?). A new "policy" was instated. An electronic submission form was made where we had to detail the times we worked "overtime" and all sorts of other details. Filling out the form took at least 5 minutes, and the shoddy interface sometimes caused it to wipe itself clean and force you to start over again. 

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  • I find it impossible to believe that the intention wasn't to make it so prohibitively difficult to report the overtime that you'd either somehow not work it or just give up and not report the 15 minutes extra you were working every day.  And, yet, any time there was an "actual" urgent reason why we were needed to work extra hours or come in on the weekend, suddenly the whole issue with overtime was forgotten and became an expectation.

    This worker had a similar experience, except they were told that they were unable to work from home, until suddenly something needed to be done urgently on the weekend when they were at home. 

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    . • 0
    via Zan Lazarevic zanlazarevic
  • 02
    I am currently in my malicious compliance phase at work right now. I got ripped a new one last week because I needed to work from home in order to get some urgent stuff done for a conference I needed to attend the following week. I was explicitly told that I could not work from home without approval. And I was told that I signed a policy about it. I
    via wenrdogred
  • 03
    responded that my job requires me to work from home all the time, to which they replied, "You signed the policy." So now, after I leave the office, I turn off my work issued cell phone and never look at it on the weekends. I am a salaried employee, but I am not going to beg my employer to allow me to work from home.
    via wenrdogred
  • 04
    This weekend I got a call on my personal cell from one of the other managers about approving some billing rates that were due. I told her that I wasn't allowed to work from home, and I will get to it on Monday whenever I have the opportunity. Everything will be late, but I signed the policy.
    via wenrdogred
  • 05
    It literally would have cost them nothing to just let me do my job. I already get paid a fixed rate. But if they want to play stupid games, they can win stupid prizes.
    via wenrdogred
  • 06
    EDIT: So a number of comments asking about why I would even bother to WFH after hours. Here is my take, my employer is not paying me to sit in an office for 40 hours a week. They're paying me to do a relatively specialized job. Sometimes I do 30 hours a week. Sometimes 40. Sometimes more. Whatever it takes to do the job. It has been extremely flexible for me in the past and has allowed me to balance family, work, and a few volunteer activities. This isn't really an anti work thing, more of an an
    via wenrdogred
  • 07
    Rigorous-Geek-2916 I told her that I wasn't allowed to work from home, and I will get to it on Monday whenever I have the opportunity. Everything will be late, but I signed the policy. Now THIS is true "Malicious Compliance" Well done.
    via wenrdogred
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    Phone
    via zanlazarevic

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 09
    _Free_Elf_ Please give an update in the next week or two about the results of your malicious compliance.
    via wenrdogred
  • 10
    kaosreyns Sadly I feel that employers will only enforce the policy when it suits them, and turn a blind eye when it also suits. them.
    via wenrdogred
  • 11
    RedditlsFiction It's nice of your employer to force you to enforce work/life boundaries. Do it more often, it's freeing.
    via wenrdogred
  • 12
    TrashedLeBlanc For me, I'd have that policy printed highlighted and available on my desk, on my personal company use cell phone and on any and all computers I might use for work. Oh you now want me to work from home? Cool, I signed the policy though. Oh you want to amend it now? Ok let's talk about proper compensation too for me working outside of office hours. Brilliant MC love it
    via wenrdogred
  • 13
    -FlyingFox- Good for you! And these employers wonder why their employees are burnt out and seeking employment elsewhere. Maybe, just maybe, if they would just let people do their jobs instead of always changing the rules.
    via wenrdogred

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workplace discussion workplace-stories jobs employee job malicious compliance work workplace Horrible Bosses workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace
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