Nate
Horrible bosses can make life miserable for their employees. They can be unreasonable, demanding, and abusive.
This story of malicious compliance shared by a Redditor is just one example of a boss who doesn’t understand the needs of their employees or the practicality of their requests.
A decade ago, a technical writer for the government was tasked with updating an outdated employee handbook from the 1940s into a more modern format.
The task at hand was to create a modern and functional document that would contain relevant policies and links to useful websites, such as the Office of Personnel Management, and forms for workman’s compensation.
The employee was scolded by the boss for not printing out certain documents and was given a strict deadline to have them on her desk by the following Monday.
Despite having requested leave for Thanksgiving and anticipating a relaxing long weekend, the speaker agreed to complete the task of having all information from the employee handbook available online and in print.
Despite the real-world deadlines of their clients, the person faced potential consequences from their boss who conducted their performance appraisals and held the power to make their life difficult or terminate their employment.
Missing publication dates incurred $100,000 daily fees and upsetting congresspeople was unwise, while the speaker grew tired of bosses’ distracting requests.
The employee printed continuously for two days and obtained overtime approval promptly upon receiving a letter from a congressional member.
They worked on Thanksgiving, printed continuously, and used up all the paper in the 14-story building.
The printing process alone took approximately 24 hours of work. To ensure completion, the individual put in a total of 32 hours over the course of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
As a result, the individual was written up and had to attend a disciplinary hearing for an accusation of “malicious compliance.”
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