Management removes automatic login access for widely used tool, employee maliciously complies until they restore access: 'It took about an hour before they sent us the login info'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Feb 11, 2026 2:00 PM EST

This worker had to prove to upper management that their new policy regarding login access was a waste of everyone's time and energy.

It's always amusing when bosses and managers step in to institute policies that only add more steps to everyone's workflow. Occasionally, of course, these extra steps are necessary, especially if they are put in place to ensure that everyone is crossing their T's and dotting their I's. However, sometimes those in charge meddle in ways that reflect a total lack of awareness and a miscalculation of how people work and collaborate with one another.

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  • That certainly seemed to be the case in this workplace environment. The author makes it seem like everyone and their mother frequently needs login access to a specific tool in order to do their jobs on the daily. However, all of a sudden, upper management decided that it would be a better idea for logistical purposes to restrict that access. Now, whenever employees needed to use that tool, they needed to submit a formal request and get that request approved before they could use the system.

    This was obviously a major lapse in judgment. Clearly, upper management was entirely out of touch when it came to what this team does day in and day out. Restricting access to that tool only added more steps to everyone's job, thereby complicating logistics and ultimately slowing down productivity. Keep scrolling below to find out how the author maliciously complied in order to prove his point that login access needed to be given to everyone who uses that tool. 

  • A frustrated employee on the phone works in front of his computer in a modern office.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    A frustrated employee on the phone works in front of his computer in a modern office.

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

  • If the purpose of this so-called experiment was to simplify matters, then the policy failed entirely. If the purpose was to complicate everyone's workflow for no legitimate reason, then it was a success. The author assumed that it would take a week or so of malicious compliance in order for upper management to fully understand their mistake. After all, these folks clearly are not the most attentive managers out there. 

    Well, it turns out that even the author was mistaken here. It took management just a little over one hour to realize just how unnecessary and meaningless their policy was.

  • Take away our login...ok, enjoy the extra work!

    The company I work for has 1 login for a tool that my team uses many times a day.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • This login is shared across the entire company and because people are stupid we get locked out frequently due to people using wrong passwords, etc.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • So, they sent out an email stating that all requests need to be emailed to a specific group and they'll run them in the tool and email us back.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • Really inconvenient for us. So, I started hammering this team with requests. Not a blatantly egregious amount but enough that they're sure to get annoyed with the extra work and they see how much my team uses it.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • I thought it would take a day or 2 for them to relent and give us access again but I was wrong.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • It took about an hour before they sent us the login info and a request to not share it with anybody else.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • An employee works in front of his computer in a modern office.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    An employee works in front of his computer in a modern office.

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

  • tsian Lol wonderful. Now I wonder how long until someone messes up the password again -.-
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • HighClass Troglodyte Original Poster's Reply As far as I know, only my team of 4 has access back. Everybody else needs to continue to email that group.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • Tymanthius Why share logins?! I'm in IT and I'm shuddering
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • HighClass Troglodyte Original Poster's Reply I don't know. It doesn't make sense. Probably "cost savings" or something ridiculous like that.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • bentnotbroken96 Maybe a per seat license?
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • HighClass Troglodyte Original Poster's Reply That's what I'm guessing but the company does 300 million plus in revenue. You would think they could give access to people who use it regularly.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • blackcompy Yeah, nothing bad is going to happen when everyone uses the same account. Nope. I trust it's not really an important system or anything?
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • HighClass Troglodyte Original Poster's Reply Without going into too much detail, it's an important tool for my team to be able to price certain things we handle correctly. Some divisions and teams would not have any use for it but my team uses it very frequently and is necessary to perform our jobs correctly.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • chaoticbear 4 year old account that just started posting 2 days ago?
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • Ryan1869 It's what the company deserves for being too cheap to buy the right amount of logins.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • HighClass Troglodyte Original Poster's Reply I delete my comments and posts after a few days to avoid any potential doxxing.
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • SternoVerno Demo version of tool
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • cbelt3 Yeah... this is a CLASSIC FUBAR situation caused by some genius manager wanting to save pennies and waste pounds. Wanna bet they are violating the license agreement?
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • hOzR Because they are cheap and don't want to pay the licensing fees
    via HighClassTroglodyte
  • PuddleMoo Aversion to paying for the correct license-level and number of seats. >I mean just pay $500 for one seat. license and have everyone share it, right? Sure if we have more licenses the per seat cost is cheaper, but we can save $10k+ by just using one login! That's part of my bonus!/s
    via HighClassTroglodyte

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employment issues corporate employee coworkers upper management funny work stories workplace malicious compliance
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