'No personal items on desk', 'ask permisson to use the restroom': Employees share the most ridiculous workplace rules they've ever been forced to follow

Author image for Cata Holmes
Cata Holmes • Writer
Jul 28, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

Why do some workplace rules seem to make everyone's job harder?

Every workplace needs rules. Without them, things would get chaotic pretty quickly. The problem starts when policies stop solving real problems and begin creating new ones instead. We've all heard stories about offices where employees spend more time following unnecessary procedures than actually doing their jobs, and somehow management still wonders why morale keeps dropping.

The strangest rules are usually the ones that exist because of one bad experience. Maybe one employee kept stealing office supplies, so suddenly everyone has to return an empty pen before getting a new one. Maybe someone left a messy desk, so now the entire office has to erase every sign of their existence before going home. Instead of dealing with the actual issue, companies create blanket policies that frustrate everyone equally.

There's also something funny about how seriously these rules are enforced. It's one thing to ask people to keep shared spaces clean or respect safety guidelines. It's another to measure where a keyboard sits on a desk or make someone walk around an entire building because they arrived two minutes late. At some point, the rule becomes more important than the work itself, and that's when people start questioning whether anyone thought it through.

I also think these stories spread so easily because almost everyone has experienced something similar. Even if your workplace isn't that extreme, you've probably looked at a policy and wondered who came up with it. Sometimes employees can laugh about it together, but other times these little annoyances build into genuine frustration over feeling micromanaged.

Of course, not every unusual rule is automatically a bad one. Some are tied to safety, security, or legal requirements that employees don't always see. But when a policy wastes time, creates unnecessary stress, or treats responsible workers like they can't be trusted, it's hard not to question whether it's accomplishing anything at all. Sometimes a little common sense goes much further than another page in the employee handbook.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • Office employees collaborating at their desks, representing everyday workplace interactions and management policies.
    via Unsplash+ (via Getty Images)

    Office employees collaborating at their desks, representing everyday workplace interactions and management policies.

    The individuals pictured are models and have no connection to the events described.

  • midlifereset My first office job years ago, you had to turn in your dry pen to get a new one from the office manager
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Come HereBanana We're fully remote now, but back when we had to go into the office, we could not wear leggings, even under longer dresses. So I could wear a dress and have nothing on my legs but I could not wear the same dress with leggings underneath.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Pomegranate 1328 I was told I should ask permission to use the restroom in case too many of us were gone at once and the phone rang. The supervisor didn't want to have to answer the phone. I was 7 months preg nt. I decided I would go to the bathroom whenever I wanted and he can f right off.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • PCBFixer No travel mugs with handles allowed because that implies that it's filled with coffee. Mugs without handles are okay. Even if they're actually filled with coffee. No paper cups from any restaurant chain that could possibly be filled with coffee. Owners are mom_n. Coffee somehow makes baby jesus cry, so it's not allowed.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Former-Wish-8228 Mandatory group break time in an office of like 5 people. Every day. Same time. No matter what was going on. Sign on door, phones to voice mail. Toast with jam and peanut butter served. Tea and coffee.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • purplelilac701 We used to have markers on a board to put ourselves in, on break or out. It didn't last long when the old guard left.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Active-Chipmunk5379 We had a (former) boss who told us we needed to put up a sign at our office door every time we went to the bathroom. Of course, they did not mind not leaving up a sign when they went for their 3 hour personal lunches.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Spadoinkle24 My boss has a list of words that we cannot use. Some of them are: Promotion, Informal meeting/interview/get together (meaning nothing can be informal), Complaint/complain, Roll (some dumb a kept typing roll instead of role), Employee, Red tape
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • thomashouseman I was once told not to smile by a mid level manager as I smiled too much. Smiled when he was made redundant.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Open-plan office illustrating the workplace where employees navigate everyday rules and company policies.
    via Unsplash+ (via Arlington Research)

    Open-plan office illustrating the workplace where employees navigate everyday rules and company policies.

    This image is for illustrative purposes only and does not depict the real workplace discussed.

  • emotional_low Our shoulders have to be fully covered. Thick straps which cover the majority of your shoulders are not okay, they have to be capped sleeves. The kicker? I work in a telephone based customer service job, we spend our entire day at our computers. Customers cannot see us, and higher ups visit the contact centre maybe twice a year.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • thx1138a My chance to shine. I worked at an actuarial firm. This was before my time but... back when they did everything on literal spreadsheets, they weren't allowed to use correcting fluid (tippex/snowpaque) to fix mistakes. Instead everyone had to have their own razor blade with which they were supposed to scratch out errors. It was in case the correcting fluid flaked off and created a legal liability.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • a1ien51 I had to come into the office when my entire team was remote. They were in 5 different timezones. The rule was if you were within a 40 mile radius of the building, you had to work in the corporate office. If I moved outside the 40 mile radius I still would be required to go in because I started within it.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • T4rbh Heatwave. Office with no public- facing desk - Zoom or telephone is the norm. Directive came down, nobody is allowed to wear shorts. Skirts and dresses are, apparently, fine...
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Bearproofsnacks One of our managers OD'd and his manager told our team we must gain control of the narrative so de d manager's reputation was not ruined. We did not comply.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Realistic Winter650 A past employee wanted us all to create a LinkedIn profile and "must" follow the upper mgmt tiers and essentially be pro company posts all the time. We're not allowed to use our personal accounts any longer. We all created the work account and never used it ever.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • zvuv I worked for an engineering company. In the spirit of reducing waste, fraud and ab e, we were told not to use our company issued calculators to balance our check books. This company serviced a big contract for the DOE and the govt got a bug up its a over misuse of govt resources. This was their response.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Dav2310675 We used to get print outs of all the long distance and mobile calls our landline number was used for each month. This required us to go through each line and highlight any calls that weren't work related, so that if those calls came to more than $10 in total, we would have to reimburse our employer.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Coworkers gathered for an office meeting, reflecting discussions about workplace expectations and company rules.
    via Unsplash+ (via Getty Images)

    Coworkers gathered for an office meeting, reflecting discussions about workplace expectations and company rules.

    This is a representative stock image and is not an actual photo of the people or office featured in the story.

  • Distinct-Solution-99 We have to mark our status as away in a program anytime we leave our desk for any reason.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • RealHeyDay Small office of fewer than 15 people. We weren't allowed to say "good morning" to each other when we came in because it was too attention seeking and distracting.
    via SuspiciousAir6358
  • Yvonneinkona My husband worked for a major auto manufacturer its headquarters. If you did not drive one of its brands of cars you had to park in the furthest away lot which was awful during winter.
    via SuspiciousAir6358

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

employee toxic workplace workplace work rules
Scroll Down For The Next Article