This high-performing service manager stopped working unscheduled and unpaid overtime after their boss demanded they work to their scheduled hours after they went home early once: 'I'm working my 9-5'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Sep 7, 2026 4:00 PM EDT

As Dolly Parton put it famously, "Workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin' Barely gettin' by, it's all takin' and no givin'."

And that song became an anthem for 9-to-5 workers everywhere for good reason. The idea of giving your all to a job for years, only to have it dissolve into ether like it never happened the minute it is convenient for your employer is a theme that is all-too familiar.

 

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    Tired businessman in suit and tie is using computer in office working at night sitting at worktable in dark room
    via Vitaly Gariev


    Tired businessman in suit and tie is using computer in office working at night sitting at worktable in dark room.


    Featured likenesses do not identify those mentioned.
     

  • This service manager worked at a small company, going above and beyond to help grow the small business where they worked, from a customer base of 60 to over 1200 clients. They redesigned training programs and helped technicians in the field. Started work early at 6 in the morning, then still continued to answer calls from home.

    Whatever it was that needed doing, they did it.

    But you can do something right a thousand times. And if you’re not doing it for the right people, all it takes is one instance that they can use as an excuse to just have it all evaporate. After one instance when they weren't present when they were needed, their manager mandated that they work 8-5 every day.

    So, that's exactly what they did. They stopped coming in early. They stopped helping out late. This caused issues rippling through the business. They lasted another year before leaving.

    They then shared their experience with the ever-popular MaliciousCompliance community. 

    As one commenter aptly put it, “If it ain't broke, Don't fix it!”

    “I'm working my 9-5”

    Story / NoNameWonder2

    I was hired at a service company as a service manager when the company was very small. I worked a lot of hours to redesign their training and programs and their client base went from 60 customers to over 1200 in a year.

     

     I would come in to the office at 6am every morning, get all my office work done by 9am, then I would go run a route for a few hours or go help a technician. 

     

    On days when I didn't have to go into the field, I would show up at 6am and work until about 2pm, then head home. I made it a point to always start at 6am because a lot of my technicians started their day at 7am and sometimes they would need to come to the office for supplies before they started their route. I would also answer phone calls and work on my laptop when I got home to help anyone still on the road or to prepare for the next day.

     

    Things were going well for a couple years. Then 1 day a tech called and asked if I could leave a piece of equipment out for him so he could come grab it at the end of his day. It was an expensive piece of equipment so we didn't normally leave it out unless we knew someone was going to grab it soon. 

     

    The tech called an hour later and said never mind because he was just going to come in the next morning. Fine. I went home for the day around 230 (I lived a hour away from the office) and was working on my laptop when I got a call from one of the big managers. 

     

    Apparently the Technician changed his mind and decided to come in and grab the equipment, but it was still locked up. Manager told me that leaving at 230 was unacceptable and that I was mandated to work from 8-5 every day. So I did.

     

    Stopped showing up at 6am so technicians would have to contact the big manager to have him do remote access to open doors and things for the techs. I stopped working past 5 so all the techs would call the bigger managers to ask questions (which the big managers couldn't answer). Technicians all knew what was up and they agreed with my decision. Things started to fall apart because techs wouldn't have the things they needed. I loved my job initially, but after I started following their rules, they started treating me like an annoyance. Finally left after another year.

  • 02
    Helln_Damnation It should be taught at Business School - If it ain't broke, Don't fix it!
    via NoNameWonder2
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    Fun-Professional-581 Good for you. Watching the clock is rarely going to make an already conscientious employee more conscientious.
    via NoNameWonder2
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    Blue_Veritas731 I find it peculiar that Big managers didn't become sufficiently enough annoyed, and the company's efficiency (and thus profits) sufficiently enough lowered, that they didn't reverse their decision and let you/tell you to go back to your old way of doing things. ~Peculiar, indeed.
    via NoNameWonder2
  • 05
    ZumboPrime Gotta love rigid manglement enforcing arbitrary rules because of a single minor incident.
    via NoNameWonder2
  • 06
    MCPhssthpok Manager making a snap decision over one minor problem that tanks productivity every day. Tale as old as time.
    via NoNameWonder2
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    Tommininisto Classic case of confusing "hours in the office" with actual value. They had someone voluntarily covering the gaps, then enforced the rule and discovered how much invisible work hed been doing
    via NoNameWonder2
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    lynnebrad70 They tell you the time's you have to work and don't like it when you do because the right hand never knows what the left hand is doing. Glad you got out
    via NoNameWonder2
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    rambetino Sounds to me like a problem of a manager arriving at a conclusion without investigating anything. They never asked you about the situation, never bothered to get an understanding of how the OP was operating, just wasn't interested in learning anything about the very thing they're charged with managing. Can you imagine the arrogance? Can you imagine being so cocky about your management skills, that you feel no need to actually understand how the company runs? Just waltz in and lay down
    via NoNameWonder2
  • 10
    Merry_Piper Working to book is sweet revenge because you can't be fired for following the rules.
    via NoNameWonder2
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    Unasked_for_advice Never go above and beyond unless you have managers who see you,that can and will appreciate that work ethic. If they can't see it, then it didn't happen so of course you will feel un appreciated and overlooked. Its not like you have any ownership in the company, why are you working as if you did?
    via NoNameWonder2

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manager malicious compliance 9 to 5 dolly parton office culture workplace 9 to 5 office malicious compliance reddit
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