Management forced employee to stick to 8:00-16:00 "core hours” and pre-approved OT, she complies, proving that her new schedule harms work-flow and production: 'Flexibility would no longer be available'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Nov 25, 2025 9:00 AM EST

The best way to get back at any horrible boss is by doing exactly what they ask of you…For some reason, it really mimics holding up a red flag to an enraged bull, as if they live for reprimanding their employees…which some of them probably do! This employee strategically planned her eight-hour workday from 8-4 pm instead of the standard 5-9, in an attempt to skip the morning and evening traffic! However, despite fulfilling all her required hours, her boss seemed to have a problem with her schedule! Forcing her to arrive at 9 and leave at 5, creating a whole extra 4-5 hours of commuting a week due to traffic. Due to this, she was missing after-work meetings, purposefully limiting her overtime/weekend availability, and ultimately damaging her successful workflow…ensuring her boss rethought their whole to-the-minute decision!

Sure, there is almost always going to be a hierarchy of authority in any workplace, but that doesn't mean that zero form of compromise is welcome when alternative options make better sense, such as letting your employee come and leave one hour early from their workday, saving them a huge amount of free time! But perhaps not everyone is that understanding, and getting a job at a company that values your happiness and comfort is often rare! So if you're lucky enough to work in a place that fosters openness and solutions, don't take it for granted…Because we're almost certain that this employee wishes she could work at a place like that, whether or not her previous schedule gets approved again!

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  • It's almost as if this company has bitten the hand that fed them, negatively impacted by their own policies…We're curious how many companies ‘lose out’ as a result of putting their egos ahead of productivity…We're certain it's a lot more than most people would expect…Yet, unfortunately, it is difficult to think of someone who hates being wrong more than a person driven by power… 

  • Stressed employee stuck in traffic
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Delicious double-whammy malicious compliance

    My wife recently performed some tasty malicious compliance so I thought I'd combine it with her previous MC from 6 months previous.
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  • My wife works in the finance dept for a government contractor, they're Hybrid but mostly all work from home due to limited office space, with the expectation her Team is on site Mon/Tues.
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  • In this role she has a busy end-of-month every month with the whole team working to post figures and is often required to work late into the evening or a few hours on the weekend to finalise the month- end...this is important for later.
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  • Due to insane commuter traffic, she prefers to start at 7 and finish at 3PM so that the commute is 30 minutes instead of AN HOUR or more, each way just sitting in congested traffic.
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  • 6x months or so ago manglement issued an edict requiring "core hours" (8-4) when in the office AND more in-office days.
    via TheDragonDoji
  • My wife emails management stating that requiring her to sit in traffic for a, wasted, additional 4-5 hours a week would mean her evening & weekend flexibility would no longer be available.
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  • Employees leaving work
    via dragonimages

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

  • Cue a management response of "Team Player blah blah". My wife responds with a breakdown of time within her paid 40x hour week and how the flexibility established and continued since Covid has benefited the Team, but as that flexibility is being reduced it has a natural effect on HER flexibility.
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  • They insist. So she leaves the office after "Core Hours", gets stuck in traffic and suddenly misses the end of day Teams Call.
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  • Of course Manglement don't appreciate this reality but she has the emails of their insistence, can't control traffic patterns and Manglement don't want to schedule the meeting earlier.
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  • If they want her on the call, either she reverts to her original schedule...or enters into Overtime to take it in the office.
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  • They suggest her previous schedule for the "foreseeable future" to aid..."Team Cohesion". Recently her Manglement decided that all overtime has to now be approved by a direct line manager.
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  • Cut to last week, my wife has been exiting meetings on the dot at the hour; "Sorry, I've got a hard stop now due to no approved OT" BAM!
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  • drops from the meeting. She's even starting to affect other Team members, with her and a colleague ceasing work on the dot due to "Not approved".
    via TheDragonDoji
  • Management is of course on the hook for incomplete end- of-month figures and starts enquiring; the Team replies with the OT edict..."All OT to require Manager approval." "It wasn't pre-approved so I stopped working to adhere to the new policy." My wife mentioned they haven't responded to this yet, but it's been weeks already.
    via TheDragonDoji
  • All of this after Management still hasn't backfilled an open dept position for 5x months, so they're down an additional person.
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  • Woman in an online work meeting
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • am now thoroughly enjoying her work stories and think reading this sub to her over the years may have had a positive impact.
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  • No-Sea1173 LOVE that she just drops straight out of the meeting at closing time. What a legend
    via No-Sea1173
  • Aromatic-Strike-793 "Manglement" is perfection. Your wife is awesome. Keep us posted!
    via Aromatic-Strike-793
  • Fast Vehicle_1888 It's as if the company just expected everyone to do unpaid overtime so they can meet their unobtainable goals. Good for you for showing everyone that you are an employee and not a slave. No. pay no work.
    via Fast Vehicle_1888
  • Europaraker Core office hours are not supposed to be the whole day! Core office hours are supposed to be when early and late flex time people are all in the office. If office hours are 8-4 and that fills her paid hours requirement why is there an end of day meeting outside of this hours? If this call everyday? Is she paid ot to attend? If their end of month or isn't pre approved be sure not to do it!
    via Europaraker
  • mavgeek The end of day Teams Call that's off the clock right? Wife was already driving home, so are her co workers also leaving then having to also attend this meeting? I ask cause if her work day is done and they still expect her in a meeting, she's performing work off the clock which the labor board loves to hear. If she's salary though then damn.
    via mavgeek
  • LithiumPopper I love the line about reducing flexibility. It's so true, if the company cannot be flexible, neither can the workers. It goes both ways.
    via LithiumPopper
  • Duochan_Maxwell Today in another episode of manglement regurgitating buzzwords without knowing the concept, we have Core Hours 8-16 is a full work day, not core hours
    via Duochan_Maxwell
  • litsalmon This is a good example of why businesses experience malicious compliance from employees. It sounds like the workload might be misappropriated if their end of month is so hectic that it requires overtime to finish. The cause, as always, in these cases is bad manglement. Although, I suppose bad manglement might be redundant.
    via litsalmon

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boss antiwork employee drama work coworkers colleague workplace employment
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