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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Agyaani_ on 2025-01-27 06:02:27+00:00.

A few years ago, my manager decided to crack down on “workplace discipline.” His first rule? Everyone had to work their exact scheduled hours—no more, no less. If your shift was 9:00 to 5:00, you couldn’t start a minute early or leave a minute late.

Now, I’m the kind of person who likes to finish what I’m working on, even if it means staying a little past my shift. But fine, rules are rules.

At 5:00 sharp, I started dropping everything. Middle of a call with a client? “Sorry, it’s 5:00. Let’s pick this up tomorrow.” Writing an email? Draft saved, computer shut down. My coworkers followed suit. Soon, the office was a ghost town at exactly 5:01 every day.

It didn’t take long for chaos to erupt. Deadlines got missed, calls were dropped, and clients weren’t happy. Management started to notice. After about two weeks, the rule magically disappeared, and we were told, “Just do what you need to get the job done.”

Funny how quickly things change when you follow orders too perfectly. 😏

Edit/Update:

A lot of people asked if this was about working long hours—it wasn’t! The issue was flexibility. Many of us liked starting early or staying late when it suited us. But the policy forced us into rigid schedules, which didn’t work for how we liked to manage our workloads.

When they realized flexibility made things smoother, they backtracked fast! 😄