Temp employee works until 3:00 AM, asks if he can finish work from home, boss refuses, sparking malicious compliance: 'Temps are not allowed to work from home'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Oct 1, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

It's high time that employers accept the reality that certain tasks can be completed at home!

This temp employee, who worked night shifts, simply asked if he could write his final report at the end of his shift from home. After all, it was three in the morning! He had to stay even later than usual that night and expected a bit of leniency from his manager, all things considered. However, his manager chose to show no mercy and instead enforced that this report needed to be drafted and sent in the office. This meant that the employee needed to stay for an additional 45 minutes to an hour. The lack of understanding on the part of his manager was, quite frankly, baffling.

In this day and age, the manager's behavior is more reminiscent of a working environment from five years ago rather than one that meets its present moment. We should be far beyond the idea that every task needs to be completed in person. This is not to say that there is zero value in going into an office. Obviously, interacting with coworkers and superiors in person can help create a united team and community within a company. Furthermore, some duties inevitably require physical presence. 

However, when it comes to individualized administrative tasks, one should be able to have some agency as to which environment is the most suitable for their work to be completed well. This is especially true for employees who are trustworthy and who have proven that they can do their jobs well with or without a manager looking over their shoulder. 

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for some feedback from this online community. 

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  • 01

    "No working from home you say?"

    A man breathes into a paper bag with the words "WORK" written on it.
    via Unsplash+ (Eduardo Ramos)

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

  • 02
    I was a lead technician on a computer upgrade project for a large University (at the time I was a temp employee -- in other words, no benefits) and worked a relatively flexible schedule. It was supposed to be Monday - Thursday from 1pm-11pm. If we finished a day's upgrade at say 8pm my day would end then, if we finished. at 3am well, that's when my day ended.
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 03
    One of my duties was to write a report of the evening's upgrades and how they went. When everything went well the report would take a minute or two to give a few sentences of information. BUT, when things went -up sometimes the report would take 45- 60 minutes to write/edit etc.
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 04
    I lived about 45 minutes away and asked my boss if I could (when all but the report was finished) clock out, make the drive home, clock back in and write the report from home. Not only would it get me home earlier, but I could think about how things went and write the report from the comfort of my own home.
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 05
    Answer: "Temps are not allowed to work from home". The night team would replace/upgrade people's computers and the day team would meet with each user in the morning and make sure all was well. On
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 06
    a particular morning and particularly finicky faculty member had some issues with what had occurred with their upgrade so the Day team called. me as the info wasn't in my report and they needed clarification.
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 07
    Forget about the fact that I didn't end. up getting home that morning until near 3am but when I was awoken by my phone after about 5 hours of sleep and saw that it was work I gently hit ignore and rolled over and went back to sleep.
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 08
    When I got into work that day there were several semi-angry emails, none of which specifically mentioned me by name but had a general "We need to all be here for each other" vibe.
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 09
    My boss called me in to his office and said I'd put the Day team in a bad situation by not being available. Me: But I thought you said I wasn't supposed to work from home.
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 10
    Boss: This isn't about working from home, it's about answering the phone. Me: If the issue isn't about "working" why is it any concern of anybody else?
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 11
    Boss: ..... We still weren't allowed to work from home but I can say that was the last phone call from the day team.
    via ElGalloAzucarado
  • 12
    A professional man screams into a telephone.
    via Icons8 Team

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

  • 13
    Wonderful-Seesaw6214.9m ago Employers don't want to pay you when you are at home, but they do want you to be on call 24/7. Excellent job calling out your boss like that.
    via ElGalloAzucarado

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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work overworked-employees company workplace malicious compliance toxic-work-environment
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