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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Loose_Alternative990 on 2024-05-09 13:27:11.

My husband told me a story yesterday about his act of malicious compliance that happened about a decade ago.

In a previous job, he worked 8-4 in an office. Many of his colleagues worked 9-5, so they were still working when he was leaving. When he was about to leave, he’d usually be asked a technical question or asked to quickly glance over something by another member of staff. This was rarely quick and usually had him standing around for a further ten minutes which, on a regular basis, starts to add up.

One day, his manager was going over the monthly time sheets and asked my husband why he’d added 10 minutes on five days across past month. Bear in mind, flexi-time was allowed. My husband explained the situation, referring to the specific problems he was asked to deal with on each of those five days.

The manager told him that the company only works in fifteen minute segments so he can’t put down 10 minutes, it would have to be 15 minutes. “However, we can’t round it up because that’s dishonest,” he said. “So just bear it in mind for next time.” This was in front of the rest of the office.

That very same week, my husband signs out of his computer at 4pm. Just before he leaves, the manager asks him to explain some of the particulars in an email he’d received from a contractor. My husband asks, “how long will it take?” The manager replies, “just five minutes.” My husband then says, “unless it’s a fifteen minute problem, I’ll have to look at it tomorrow. Is it a fifteen minute problem?”

His manager turns red and awkwardly says it’s not. My husband respectfully states that he will put it at the top of his to-do list the following morning and leaves.

One of his colleagues texted him just after 5 and said there was an awkward silence after he’d left and when the manager eventually got up and left to do something, they all burst out laughing.