IT employee gets reprimanded over not taking his lunch on time, so he complies during a critical outage that turned down the network in which he can't really do anything: 'Boss is standing at my desk when I get back today.'

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Jul 4, 2026 12:00 PM EDT

Malicious compliance, the only way to work in the corporate world right now.

You go to work as an IT employee, and something happens, a system went down, the wifi disconnected, whatever. When that occurs, you start fixing it, not realizing it's already 12:30 and you have between 12 and 1 pm to take your lunch. You decide to ignore that, as this problem is far more important, and for one day you can take your lunch at another time. When you fix the issue, it is already past 1 o'clock, but you go to lunch anyway. After eating, you go back to your desk only to find your boss being mad at you for taking your lunch at a time that isn't the assessed one. There is no room for explaining, so you just comply.

A couple of days later, a power outage makes the whole network go down. This is critical, but it is already 12:30, so you can't stay, as you don't want your boss to be mad at you again. You go to lunch, and after 30 minutes you're back. At your desk is your boss, who was waiting for you to come back. He isn't happy, and as soon as he sees you, he just says: "The network is up, by the way!" You are done. Officially, you have a target on your back, and it wasn't really malicious compliance. It was just doing what you were told to avoid having your boss mad at you again. That is the corporate world.

Now this Reddit user who shares this story is looking for some help in the matter. But the reality is that he already has the target on his back. They are going to be looking more closely at him, just waiting for any tiny mistake to get him fired. So if he asked me, I would tell him to start updating his resume. 

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  • 01
    TL:DR: Boss tells me to take my lunch ONLY at X-Y hours when I was dealing with a "mission- critical" outage until the job was done. Later, I clock out during a VERY obvious "all hands on-deck" situation because boss complained the last time I answered the call.
    via daschande
  • 02
    Visual representation of a corporate boss.
    via Hunters Race

    Visual representation of a corporate boss. 

  • 03
    The short version: Small business, this is my first IT job, but I have decades of blue collar experience. I was the first IT person the company ever hired; my associate's in IT specializing in networking only a few gen-ed classes away. My boss kept the platters spinning, but he has no formal training or amateur desire; he wants to offload the tediousness.
    via daschande
  • 04
    Three days prior, I was trying to get a "mission critical" computer up and running again; the only computer with the shipping. software (and hundreds of packages waiting to ship). I advised an immediate re-image (delete everything and reset to a "known good save") I had it on deck for just such an occasion. But I was overridden by the owner, who wanted me to keep Windows in situ and delete/reinstall programs
    via daschande
  • 05
    piecemeal and deal with phone support for those programs, because he paid extra for tech support. His call, I followed orders. I was on the phone for hours, and did not leave my post until the job was done. That meant I took my lunch half an hour later. No big deal for me, but when I clocked back in and got back to my desk, my boss was standing there, FUMING, because I took a lunch outside of normal hours. He INSISTED I
    via daschande
  • 06
    MUST take my 30 minute lunch from 12-1 as per company policy. So, today, the whole network goes out at 12:25 and I had not yet taken my lunch. Nothing can ping anything. My own personal hunches tell me this is because it's a factory building, there are a lot of high-voltage woodworking machines for factory production level of output, and ALL of the ethernet cables are unshielded.. Just my hunch.
    via daschande
  • 07
    ...But I really can't do a d in thing, because my company rents out office space as a subletter; so we are NOT allowed access to the switches and routers. I have no admin access to the infrastructure. So I set up wireshark to record and a continuous command line ping, and go to lunch. Boss is standing at my desk when I get back today, and gives me a passive-aggressive "the network is up, by the way!", but refuses to
    via daschande
  • 08
    call me out further. I had the "I told you so" on deck, though!
    via daschande
  • 09
    daschande OP Side note: Phone support made things so bad, even THEY told me to hire a contractor at my own expense to fix the mistake THEY created! I solved the problem myself, after being ordered not to. I learned a VERY important lesson that day. What you actually DO is inconsequential. How you make
    via daschande
  • 10
    the higher-ups FEEL; well, that's where careers are made.
    via daschande
  • 11
    A man working on his computer in the middle of nowhere, model image.
    via Reka Illyes

    A man working on his computer in the middle of nowhere, model image.

  • 12
    Ninja HidingintheOpen The secret instruction is that if things are going wrong you don't get lunch, he just can't say that because it's illegal.
    via daschande
  • 13
    DoctorGuvnor Start looking for another job - your days there are numbered and it's not a big number. Arseholes seldom respond well to being silently informed they're arseholes.
    via daschande
  • 14
    tusk354 welcome to the joy of IT! if things work - "what does IT actually do" when things dont work - "what does IT actually do" lol.. enjoy your peace before oncall, endless mgmt meetings, morons, etc.
    via daschande
  • 15
    CCIE_14661 I'm not sure what your title is, but hourly and network engineer are two things that just should never go together.
    via daschande
  • 16
    CelerySingle8375 Been doing sysadmin for over 35 years now. Last 25+ with Unix and Linux systems. If there's one bit of advice I can pass on from that; taking a break AWAY from the problem - be it lunch, a walk, whatever - will do wonders for your ability to recharge and re-attack on return, as well as let the back brain work
    via daschande
  • 17
    thru the issues without being under the immediate pressure. ie. Taking a break can help you solve the problem faster.
    via daschande
  • 18
    starrpamph What on earth is wrong with your network there
    via daschande
  • 19
    Itorres89 > but I have decades of blue collar experience. I am also a blue collar worker who recently crossed over to an arguably white-collar job. The amount of side-eye I get when I let the "shop" side out is hilarious. Although I am perfectly capable of being a front-facing customer
    via daschande
  • 20
    service-oriented employee (I worked retail for a few years as a teen), it still makes my supervisors a bit nervous.
    via daschande
  • 21
    Lucida Console When we have an outage for whatever reason, I will (and have) worked 18 hours straight with only eating snacks at my desk. But in return, I expect no sh when I leave early on Friday or get a PTO day added to my bank.
    via daschande
  • 22
    tac0722 I hope you're updating your resume and getting the there. out if
    via daschande
  • 23
    BrilliantOpening4981 Good on you for staying professional and simply following the policy you were asked to follow while still doing your job the best you could
    via daschande

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corporate malicious compliance bad bosses blue collar
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