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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Ok-Pea3414 on 2024-07-19 02:46:38+00:00.
TLDR; Some IT manager was rude and pissed off about me taking company phone along with me on hikes, trails and camping and was a total ass about it. Followed her demands to the letter, got her demoted, she quit and new policy was put in place.
Previous job, worked in a company that was regulated by multiple powerful government agencies. When they ask for something, they want it pronto, and if the delay was too long, they'd rather have us shutdown business rather than wait for data, information or prototypes.
I was given a company phone, that I had to take everywhere with me. Rotating on-call periods, but I'm expected to be available if shit hits the fan. The phone was a special kind of a phone from a fruit company, based in California. It wasn't a US based model, it had two different networks and with some extra tech in it, could jump on whichever was stronger, and maybe even use both at the same time. I'm not sure, but it was good. Needless to say, it should have been pretty expensive.
Now, I love nature. I can and have gone camping, oftentimes in remote places, and gone a few days without seeing another human. 18 months into the job, there was a new schedule where I got 3 days of being on-call and expected to work a regular 8hr day, having to live within 20 mins of work, and then four days of being off. This worked pretty amazing for me. As soon as next on-call team doing and maintaining the same work from our dept got on, I'd be off, on a plane to get another national park under my belt or some remote state parks, or whatever I had my sight on.
I thought it'd be helpful to carry the company phone I was given, along with me, in case I was needed. In the year and a half, I was never contacted when not being on-call, as we had a strong culture of communications and the teams knew what they had to know in order to troubleshoot. But, nevertheless I took the company phone along with me.
During the trip, the screen got damaged. Not so much that the phone was inoperable, but definitely difficult to use. Got back, went through the forms and got IT to repair or give me another one. Some manager high up in IT went off and was going on and on and on, about how expensive those devices were, how difficult it was to configure them and how much harder it was to get them in US and all other BS. Then she told me, I am not to take the company phone and hardware along with me wherever I go, it is supposed to go between my residence and the office and nowhere else. And she was pretty derogatory about it, even throwing a few large chunks of racism in between. I shot off an email later, keeping my manager in the loop and the dept head, about confirming what she said.
Cue, my malicious compliance.
A few weeks later, I took my PTO. PTO policy was pretty good and thus I took off for three weeks, and still had over three weeks remaining. I did not take any of the company hardware along with me. As per what was stated by some manager who was somewhere in the org chart in IT. And decently high up.
All hands on deck situation arose. My manager was pissed at me not being able to answer the company phone. Wasn't like I was in the woods, at my very dear cousin who just had twins and a very difficult delivery. I took care of my cousin while her husband looked after the kids. Manager had to get me on my own phone, and she had to go through some of my work friends for my personal phone, since I was pretty good at not giving out my personal contact info to people at work.
Manager "Why aren't you answering the company phone?"
Me "I'm not at home. Don't have my company phone with me."
Manager "Never mind, get back online immediately, we have an all hands on deck situation."
Me "Sorry, I do not have any of the company hardware with me."
Manager (being mouthy) "Why (a bunch of expletives)?"
Me "This manager in IT, said I wasn't to take company hardware along with me wherever I go."
Manager "What? When did that happen?"
Me "I sent an email, stating what she said and kept you and X (our dept head) in CC".
Manager (goes through her email, finds it and a bunch of more expletives) "You need to come back immediately."
Me "sorry, no can do. My cousin's still pretty much half dead with a very difficult twin pregnancy. I'm taking care of her, and I was pretty clear about it before going on PTO, I wouldn't be able to come back."
Manager, cuts off call, calls me back in 30.
Manager "Do you have anyone who has keys to your apartment?"
Me "Yes."
Manager "Give me their contact. I'm going to get the computer and a screen, and UVW (other hardware) shipped to you before night and you can get back. We have a serious situation."
Me "Can I get more PTO then to compensate for this intrusion?" (me knowing, I have the slightly upper hand and striking when the metal's hot)
Manager "sure, I'll send an email, approving this".
By 8pm, I get my company phone, computer and other hardware shipped to me. I also get two emails. One email approving the extended PTO, for this intrusion. Second email from my dept head X, stating that the original company policy is still in effect, in fact a new policy has been put in place, for some employees to have their company hardware with them, even on PTO. Anything else said by anyone else was to be disregarded. And cherry on top, that IT manager was in CC.
When I returned from my PTO, that IT manager was nowhere to be seen. Turns out, she had been demoted, she couldn't digest that and quit.
The company had to spend over $6k to ship it on the same day, and get the hardware to me.
EDIT: AS so many people have been pointing out, it wasn't a win for me, don't be contacted during time off, now you gotta carry phone and laptop, risk management of the company and so on.
First - I probably wasn't needed. As I said, we had a good communications culture. So alternate teams were aware and it wasn't like I was the only one who'd be able to do it. But in case regulators asked for a third thing while people were already working on things 1 & 2, it'd be nice to have more people around who would be taking over. If the regulator was pissed off enough, come the deadline, they would literally stop the business. And they could.
Second - The employer was pretty good about not contacting people being off or on PTO. And of someone was contacted, they were given more time off/more days for PTO. People were happy, a few were grumpy maybe, but it was reasonable.
Third - Yes, some people may or may not see this as a win. And I get your point. Then again, this is not Europe. The downside? This industry is literally 5x in US versus in Europe.
Fourth - People in management were understanding. Since I was available but away, I would be utilized only if the ones already working were overloaded. But they wanted me available. Thankfully, I really wasn't utilized.
Fifth - Destroying someone's career? I didn't do that. They did it to themselves. She was pretty high up in IT chain, and I agreed to follow what she said. Consequences. IT doesn't have a business overview, but a small horse like view of business through the lens of IT. She should probably have consulted a few more folks instead of being in a rage fit and throwing a tantrum.