Malicious Compliance

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Conscious-Farmer6953 on 2025-06-14 22:19:32+00:00.

Tl;dr fired by raging boss, MC extra $300, show up a week later in different job and new boss keeps me in old bosses face after finding out why.

Gonna be kinda long one but I have an MC and a pro revenge in one. A friend reminded me of this when talking about all the forest fires burning in Canada right now.

In the late 80s I got a job with the Ministry of Natural Resources driving to support fighting forest fires. Great job, just over double minimum wage (major bonus @ 19) and they had no limit to the number of hours you could work. Fire season started early & by mid May I was supporting one that was (I think, long time ago) 3-400 hectares and growing quickly (1 hectare = 2.5 acres). Back then I think the whole district was around around 100 000 sq. km (think all of Indiana), so there was a lot of driving.

One day I get to the on site hq and get told to wait while they found me a return load. Little later I am told to go to the helicopter staging area to pick up the fire boss (FB). (To preface, the road was shit) I pick him and a few others up and make my way back. Half way there I hit a deep pot hole and the FB just loses it. Starts bellowing about goddamned kids speeding, no respect etc. For the 5 minutes it takes to get back. I found out on the way there that going to fast was not a good deal so made sure to not go faster than 15 kph (9 mph).

As soon as we get to base camp slams his way out of the truck a screams 'YER FIRED'!! Get back to district and have them process you!! OK, Fuck you very much sir. We were deep, deep in the bush. I don't know how deep but it took me close to 7 hours to get there.

Cue Malicious Compliance

I grabbed 2 20l gas cans (5 gallons) and set off. Real, real slow. If 15 kph was to fast for these roads then the proper speed was obviously however fast the truck went at idle (unless there was a hill, I'm wasn't a monster). It took 22 hours to reach the first paved road and then I set the cruise control 5 kph below the limit and went to get fired. Extra $300ish ya me. I process out and I meet one of the guys (call him crew boss CB)who taught the level 1 forest fire fighter course I took before I got hired to drive. We got along well but there only 2 new full time hires that year and none on his crew. He had just come with one of his guys who broke his leg and was going to personnel to find someone new. I was quickly hired on as his 4th. 2 hours later I'm being driven to meet his crew at a fire. Couple says later that fire is declared out and we are off to a new fire. Yup. The fire I was fired from. Kinda revengish but it get better.

Cue pro revenge.

CB it turns out is besties with FB so FB has our crew as the initial response crew. This meant that we spent a lot of time riding in the helicopter with FB and responding to jump fires that would take minimal time to deal with. It took a week before he recognized me and I watched out the corner of my eye, something I thought was only in books or said as an exaggeration. This guy went from pink to red to actually turning purple. I couldn't hear what was being said but I see the skittle flowing out as he yelled into headset and I got some major side eye from CB for the rest of the flight.

When CB asked about it later and I explained including the drive back he almost passed himself. Turns out (surprise), FB has a long history of exploding over nothing and taking it out on the nearest poor bastard. He ended up firing 2 more guys over the same thing and likely the same pothole. So CB knew what he was like but they got along really well. Turns out he also really liked poking the bear. For the rest of that fire CB made sure I was seated so I was the first person he saw if he looked over his shoulder. On a later fire our crew got admin duties and CB was FB's #2. I got to be as CB put his helper monkey and FB's jock itch. The rest of the crew knew so there wasn't any friction and they got a kick out it.

It was a great summer and I worked for CB 3 more summers through Uni. Always went back with Great stories, really nice money (I collected unemployment during school not sure if it was legal but no one said anything and pretty sure time has run out any way) in amazing shape but with a really weird tan.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Any_Lingonberry_3948 on 2025-06-14 20:49:55+00:00.

Back in high school, I worked at a fast food place with a power-tripping night manager. Her favorite line? “No one leaves until the whole store is spotless.”

One night, I finished my section by 9:15 and offered to help someone else. She snapped, “Don’t touch anyone else’s work. Stay in your section until everyone’s done.”

Okay, boss.

I sat on the clean counter, folded my arms, and waited. Every time she passed by, I smiled. “Still done here!”

At 11:45, she finally realized everyone else was swamped and I wasn’t budging. She snapped, “Why are you just sitting there?”

“You said not to help and not to leave.”

The next shift? Brand new rule: “Once your section’s done, help someone else.”

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/KJWeb8 on 2025-06-14 19:24:38+00:00.

At one of the factories I worked at, we had a shift overlap. Each shift was there for 8.5 hours, with a half hour unpaid lunch. We had a half hour on shift change to tell the incoming shift what was going on with the machines.

A bean counter figured out how much money could be saved with this 'unnecessary' half hour hand over time being cut. This also cut our workday to 7.5 paid hours. They told the lead men to coordinate the shift handover, even though there was too much information for one person to handle.

Cue the malicious compliance. I strolled onto the production floor at my new assigned start time. Machines were all down. Operators wait for me (a set up operator) and the lead man to discuss what needed to be done. Instead of machines running continuously, they were shut down for at least a half hour. My lead man furiously asked me why I didn't come in earlier. I told him I don't work for free.

Naturally, my approach to the new way spread to the other shifts, and suddenly people who always came in early decided they didn't want to work for free either. The factory production levels dropped. Upper management asked why. Several fingers were pointed at me for starting the rebellion, but nothing could be done to make us work for free.

A week later, our hours were changed back.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/executive1258 on 2025-06-14 18:56:02+00:00.

I’m sitting at home now wondering if they will figure this out. I have 81 hours of PTO on the books, on Friday’s I teach a class on first aid and CPR. I’m the only one who is trained and certified to teach this class for the company I worked for. On a Friday, after teaching the class I’d left work with only an hour left in my day. I went to the hospital and found out, I suffered a heart attack. I’m back at work on Tuesday morning as I only work Tuesday through Friday. I was reading the PTO policy and noticed if you voluntarily terminate your employment with the company you’ll lose your PTO. no chance of a cash in or buy out.

Being the guy who follows the rules, I put in for 80 hours of PTO to recover from my heart attack. My boss was super upset about the amount of time I’ll be off because I will not be there to cover his vacation. I went to HR and filed this as FMLA medical requirement before telling my boss. During my time off I’ve been bombarded with numerous telephone calls, asking me why I’m not answering my emails. I told my boss I get paid to read emails and I am on PTO so please let me rest and recuperate and I’ll see you when I get back. An old colleague of mine reached out and asked me if I would like to come teach at their corporation. The pay is about 35% more than what I’m currently making and I really liked working for this individual. I filled out an application and when they ask for the start date, I gave the date as two days after my PTO ends.

Today is my last day of PTO, in the morning I’ll give them notice of my lady day of work which will be end of business Sunday. (Asked to work) AITAH for caring about myself first before the company I work for? I know I will not give them a two week notice, as I’ve been with this company for five years, and have seen many people leave and get screwed over by this company with or without a two week notice.

I only wish my co workers well after my departure.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/PuddingMints on 2025-06-14 15:54:44+00:00.

A while ago, our manager decide we weren’t being “accurate” enough about our lunch breaks. He rolled out new policy: track them to the minute. Not “12 to 1.” He wanted exact timestamps.

So I gave him exactly what he asked for. I opened a Word doc and started tracking everything. Lunch start and start times. Waiting in line for the microwave. Bathroom breaks. Even the two minutes I spent getting water before I sat back down.

I used 12-point Times New Roman. Bolded every day’s date. Labeled everything like format report. By the end of the month, it was 30 pages long.

He took one look and said, “Do you really expect me to read all this?” I said, “I assumed that’s why you asked for it.”

The policy disappeared by Friday. We’re back to “12 to 1.”

I haven’t opened that Word doc since.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Upset-Meringue7079 on 2025-06-14 12:48:35+00:00.

My job used to praise punctuality, until we got a new supervisor who got obsessed with shaving labor costs.

He gave a big speech one morning: “If you clock in before your shift starts, that’s time theft. Wait until your exact start time. Not a second earlier.”

Cue malicious compliance.

The next morning, about five of us sat in our cars right outside the door, waiting until the clock hit exactly 8:00.

Inside, the phones were ringing. Customers were waiting. But none of us dared clock in early.

He stormed out and asked why we weren’t working.

“Because clocking in early is stealing time, remember?”

By the following week, we had a grace window of 7 minutes before shift. You’re welcome, Greg.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Lopsided_Exam_1213 on 2025-06-14 12:45:48+00:00.

My company had a “use it or lose it” PTO policy but made it nearly impossible to actually take time off. Every request was met with “we’re short-staffed” or “bad timing.”

So when I hit the end of the fiscal year with two weeks of untouched vacation left, I sent a formal email: “I’ve been instructed to use my remaining time before it resets, so I’ll be out starting tomorrow. Please ensure coverage.”

My manager panicked and told me to stagger it.

I just replied, “Policy states it will be forfeited if not used before [date]. I wouldn’t want to break company rules.”

I took all 10 days in a row.

Turns out I was the only one who knew how to run a key report. They had to bring in a temp and still fell behind by two weeks.

Funny thing, next year, they quietly changed the policy to allow carryover.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/carcerdominus1313 on 2025-06-13 22:14:03+00:00.

Years ago worked at a place that built medical testing equipment. They came up with stupid shit to fill out every 6 mouths or so. But the worst was a form for non productive time. Stocking parts, cleaning, moving things around, meetings, manager stopping to ask a question anything like this. We had to stop and fill the form out. We had HR people who would watch to make sure you were doing it. There was something like 12 different boxes of items to keep track of.

So after 2 to 3 weeks of this. I got the idea to add another item on the bottom of the list and got everyone else to. How long we spent each day filling out the form!

The next Monday staff meeting first thing that morning. Stop filling out the forms. No answer to why was given.

One of the front secretaries must have going around asking whose idea it was to add that line. Everyone pointed to me. She came up and thanked me, it was her job to enter them. She hated them couldn’t read half of them she said and got questioned about them by HR all the time.

Well turns out it was taking almost 120 hours a week of employee time to fill them out each week! The equivalent or 3 people’s time.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Raja_The_Fat on 2025-06-13 21:56:18+00:00.

So I work in game QA (Quality Assurance), which basically means I get paid to break games and then write a detailed essay about how and why it broke.

One day, our lead sends out a message:

“From now on, stick strictly to the test script. No deviations. No exploratory testing. Just follow the document as written.”

Now, this goes against the golden rule of QA exploratory testing is where you catch the truly nasty bugs. But hey, they wanted strict compliance? Fine. Let’s play that game.

The next day, I’m testing a new patch for a third-person action game. The script says:

“Step 12: Jump on the platform and pick up the health pack.”

So I do exactly that. I don’t move left or right, I don’t run into any nearby enemies, and I certainly don’t check what happens if I fall off the platform. I just jump, grab, pass.

Later, a developer gets a bug report from another tester about a soft-lock (where the game becomes unplayable without restarting) if you pick up the health pack after aggroing a nearby enemy. It turns out it’s a critical bug ,one that happens to 1 in 5 players who aren’t robots following a script.

The dev asks why I didn’t catch it. I just forward the manager’s message back:

“No deviations. Just follow the document as written.”

Next thing I know, we’re in a meeting, and suddenly the tone shifts to:

“Okay, from now on, feel free to do exploratory testing where appropriate.”

Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/BartFly on 2025-06-13 19:37:42+00:00.

The amount of accounts that are 1-2 days old, and only have a generic topic, are getting old. They are always here or ask reddit. its clear they are bots, I don't understand the point, but I don't understand most things. I feel we should impose a 30 day or longer account requirement before posting in here.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Scranton_Office_Park on 2025-06-13 19:00:42+00:00.

About 10 years ago, I was working the overnight shift and a large beer factory. The company decided it was going to do away with management on that shift. To ensure menial tasks were completed, the company created a checklist for us to complete. The manager from the previous shift was supposed to stay about 2 hours into our shift, then forward all the completed checklists to his manager. Well, there was no way that everything on the list could be completed in those 2 hours, so we all just waited to the end of the shift to fill them out. The manager responsible for forwarding the completed lists was already long gone before we filled them out, so he had nothing to send. After a few days of this, he ordered us to complete the checklist before he leaves at 1am (only 2 hours into our shift). We refused, saying that it would be false information to complete the list before the work was done. So, he decided that we would continuously updates the list as we complete tasks. This was, he would have some portion of the list to send to his boss. We found out that each time the an item was checked off and the list was closed, he would get an email. So, the 12 people on the shift all decided we would check off our lists 1 item at a time and close it (there were about 30 items on the list). The manager started getting a separate email for each item from each person. After a few days of receiving 360 meaningless emails, the checklist went away.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/13insomniaccats on 2025-06-13 18:38:48+00:00.

I work in a satellite office for a larger parent company. My position is middle ranking and one of my daily tasks is to process payments that the office receives. I have my own credit card processing account, but I have to use my supervisor's account for mobile check deposits. Why don't I have my own account? I have no idea because I'm the one handling the money at this office--for years (yes, it's been discussed but it always becomes a zero priority point).

For the past month-ish, I kept getting error messages when trying to mobile deposit. I went to the accounting head to ask for help and was told to just go to the bank and deposit the checks myself. I can't do that because I don't have access to my own vehicle, so the checks kept piling up.

I asked my supervisor and other staff in the office for help, but no one could help me. When I brought up the issue to the accounting head again, I was told to just deposit the checks myself (again, can't) and "figure it out yourself."

On the error message, the bank provides a phone number for you to call in when you're in need of help. I called it in the hopes of someone being able to help me and gave them my actual name.

Not the supervisor's name, aka the one who actually is supposed to be depositing the checks and who the account belongs to.

The parent company's account--for the main office, for the satellite offices, EVERYTHING--got flagged for fraud because of my call. Everything ground to a halt, no one could use the petty cash checks, deposit checks, use their company credit cards. Nothing.

The accounting head was screaming mad (literally) about this and now having to deal with the issue themself, and I reminded them what I was told and that I was just "trying to figure it out myself." :)

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Spirited_Wasabi9633 on 2025-06-13 17:16:15+00:00.

My work has been on my back all the sudden asking me what it is I'm working on all day and acting like I'm not doing anything. (I think the owner is freaking out because his stocks are going into the toilet and he voted for it). The worst part is I'm a contractor, so I can work whatever hours I want and take off whenever I want as long as I meet deadlines, which I do. I have been getting paid per project, but all the sudden they want to know every single task I do in detail. No problem.

So, I just spent 1.5 hours, 30% of my workday, on their dime to write the most detailed work report of my life. It came out to at least a paragraph per day (some had two). I hope that's detailed enough for you, boss. 🫡😏

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/ParticularsForever on 2025-06-13 15:20:39+00:00.

Couple weeks ago, my manager dropped the new rule: everyone’s expected in office, every day. No remote work. No sick days unless you’re basically in a hospital bed.

So when I caught a nasty cold fever, sore throat, nonstop coughing, I showed up. Masked, but very visibly unwell. Blew through a box of tissues by noon. Sanitized every surface I touched.

Manager asked, “why didn’t you stay home?”

I said, “you told us not to.”

By Friday, three other people were out sick. HR quietly revisited the policy. I’ve been working from home ever since.

Guess it was serious.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/GhostInTheThreadX on 2025-06-13 14:22:31+00:00.

Our HR department sent out a new policy.

All complaints must be submitted in writing. No exceptions.

They said they were tired of hallway gossip and untrackable reports.

So I started writing them. The AC was freezing? Complaint. Someone left dishes in the sink again? Complaint. Microwaved fish at 11:47 a.m.? Full report, with timestamp. At first, they thanked me for “taking the process seriously.” By the end of the week two, I was averaging 17 written submissions. By week three, I got a meeting request. They asked me to “use discretion” and only report “significant” issues. I politely reminded them of their policy no exceptions. They’ve since revised it to reasonable and substantial concerns only. I still file one complaint a week. Just to make sure the process works.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Cassandra-626 on 2025-06-13 14:04:29+00:00.

I stayed with a relative for a few weeks while my place was being renovated. I tried to be as respectful and helpful as I could cooking meals, cleaning up, buying groceries when things were running low. I wanted to show appreciation for the hospitality.

One day, I gently reminded her to lift up the iron from the iron board after she’d walked away in the middle of ironing . I wasn’t rude, just trying to keep the place safe. Instead of a thank you, I got snapped at. They told me I was a guest and should act like one. So, I did exactly that.

From that moment on, I stopped doing anything extra. No more no more cooking,no more helping her with her laundry no more stepping in. I parked myself on the couch, watched TV, and said thank you after every meal like I was staying at a hotel.

After three days, the energy shifted. She started looking stressed. Dishes piled up. The kitchen felt tense.

Eventually, she looked at me and asked if I was just going to sit there.I smiled and told her I was simply being a guest, just like she asked.

Suddenly, I was family again. She asked if I could help out like I usually do and things changed till I left

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/LaurelGlow147 on 2025-06-13 13:23:41+00:00.

I used to work in retail and had a classic Karen who always demanded to speak to the manager, no matter how small the issue. One day she insisted a shirt was on sale even though it clearly wasn’t. She made a scene and that customer is always right. My manager told me to give her what she wants, exactly how she says. So I rang up her sale shirt but followed store policy: any overridden price means no returns or exchanges. I made sure to circle it big on her receipt and explained it slowly in front of the line she’d caused. She came back two days later trying to return it and lost it when I reminded her she’s was always right about the price, so the final sale stood. Manager backed me up 100%.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/mdlapla on 2025-06-13 13:07:43+00:00.

I was cooking some empanadas (argentinian fast food delicacy) and remembered that I learned how to cook them via malicious compliance. Let me explain:

I grew up in Argentina, in a catholic family, going to a catholic school, in a mostly catholic country.

But, even though my family was catholic, going to Mass wasn't a regular occurrence on our family. Mom would go from time to time, as a family we would go from time to time, but it wasn't something usual.

Since I studied in a catholic school, most of my close friends did go to Mass every Sunday, around 7PM, to a Church that was at around 10-15 minutes walking from home. After Mass, they usually stayed for a little while afterwards, talking about whatever teenage boys and girls talk about.

This happens when I was fresh out of high school and starting university but still living with my parents. In Argentina, there are no huge campus with dorms and stadiums and all that, most of the people that study at universities still live with their parents and go to Uni every day. Also, most of the public ones are very good and free.

For some reason, Mom comes one day and starts saying that I have to go to Church, that I have to set a good example for my younger brothers and bla bla bla. But just me, not the family, not my parents, just me.

By that time, I'm pretty much an atheist or, at least, not really into the catholic Church and all that comes around that, so I have no intention whatsoever to even step inside of a Church.

Going to a catholic school sometimes has that effect.

I even clashed a lot with religion teachers in the school, arguing and not buying their tales. They couldn't do nothing about it because I was a good student and scored 8,9s or 10s on everything (B+ or As are the equivalent).

Nevertheless, I say OK to Mom (you don't argue with Mom), she said that I have to go to Church... to Church I'll go... but she never said that I have to go to Mass.

So, at around 6:40PM, every single Sunday, I would say "bye, I'm going to the Church" and go out, but I would stop first at a empanadas joint that was halfway to Church, eat a couple empanadas, watch the last soccer match of the day with the employees, learn how to make empanadas the right way, have a chat with the employees and arrive to Church 5 minutes before Mass ended, staying right by the door waiting for my friends to come out of the building, then have a chat and a couple laughs with them and return home afterwards.

Mom never found out (this was way before mobile phones, we roamed the streets free by then and nothing ever happened) but, ten or so years later, with me having moved out of my parent's, I told Mom about this, she shrugged and said "well, we all have to disobey our parents sometimes".

TLDR: Mom said I had to go to Church, but since she didn't say I had to go to Mass, I learned how to cook food instead.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Reverend_Bull on 2025-06-13 13:00:09+00:00.

Piggybacking off recent dress code posts, this one is from my uncle. He's retired now, but I thought y'all would enjoy the story.

For background, my kinfolk are in East Kentucky. Hillbilly folks. My dad's generation were the barefoot and wild children folks talk about from "Night Comes to the Cumberlands." Out there, a suit and tie is rarely worn, and many don't bother even owning one from Goodwill. We're simple folks, but we got a spiteful streak. And we certainly know how to improvise.

My uncle got a job with the USPS in Florida and was internally promoted to manager. After that, he had to dress up. Class distinction, public respectability, all that jazz. He asked for specifics and was told he had to wear a tie. Guess they thought the rest of the suit would follow.

Cue malicious compliance.

My uncle made a lifelong hobby of collecting the most singularly ugly ties known to mankind. He wore ties so loud it could give a sober person a hangover. Orange and red and yellow patterns that screamed to the eye. Tie dye. Tie prints that looked like spilled paint cans.

Two particular favorites:

He owns a wooden tie. It's literally made of wood slats hinged together, so one could roll it up at the neck and let it drop with a clack-clack-clack into place.

Remember the 3D image craze of the 90s? He bought several in that style. One resolved when you got the right kind of cock-eyed to a naked lady. Another just said "FUCK YOU" in the pattern.

Unfortunately, the fallout was minimal. USPS doesn't change much. As I hear it, the dress code changed to "business casual" with informal rules about being a little nicer dressed than subordinates. But I also hear that a few other casual folks who rankle under the rules have hit my uncle up for ties now that he's retired. And he certainly inspired me - I'm looking at buying a chainmail tie one of these days to wear while I teach.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Lopsided_Exam_1213 on 2025-06-13 12:22:29+00:00.

I'm a nurse. Our floor recently got a new manager who wanted everything done “by the book”, no matter how inefficient.

One day, she sent an email saying we needed written approval before making any changes to a patient’s care plan, even minor ones like switching out a gauze size or adjusting a bed alarm setting. Verbal approvals weren’t enough anymore.

Okay then.

That night, during my shift, I emailed her for written approval for everything. Swapping gauze? Emailed. Moving a patient closer to the bathroom to reduce fall risk? Emailed. Turning off an unnecessary monitor beeping every five seconds? Emailed.

By morning, she had 42 emails from me.

She tried to scold me for clogging her inbox. I just smiled and said, “You asked for written approvals. I didn’t want to be non-compliant.”

Policy changed by that afternoon.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Aggravating_Dot_5217 on 2025-06-13 12:10:19+00:00.

He did it again. RA (The Egyptian sun god). This time we were all called into a meeting to start project planning for a new project. The entire team from all over the world gathers to start the planning. I had called the meeting as I would be doing the senior project manager. Up to this point, there had been documents floating around, discussing the specs of the project.

I just want to have a side note. I prepared an online document for all the team members to contribute to, to try and make planning easier. RA asked one of the team members to download a copy of the document, and he added his thoughts to this document. He got somebody else from the team to do the same thing. Before I knew it, there were at least 4 copies of the document floating around, and none of them agreed with the others. Two of my staff members battled to try and make head ot tail of these documents and get their points into the document.

Back to the story. Every time that I started speaking, RA would interupt me like I was not even in the meeting. He told us how the project would be run, where the milestones would be, how much budget we had and gave ridiculous deadlines.

I tried on numerous occasions to tell him that his ideas wouldn't work and it would run into problems, only to be interrupted with how things will run. We have an AI that transcribes the entire meeting for the attendees and emails a copy to all the participants.

I spent a great deal of time working on the plan and making sure to put all his "ideas" into the project plan. It was distributed and RA signed off on it. He gave us the OK to start the project. 10 days into the project we were 3 days behind the schedule.

RA calls the entire team to a meeting and proceeds to berate everyone. He asks where we got these ridiculous deadlines. I told him that he gave them to us. I got the "I did not" - blah blah blah.

I opened the transcript from the previous meeting and showed it to him. The fun was that he blew his top for about 5 minutes, then accepted that there was a problem. He told us to put everything on hold and redo the project plan properly. The team chased him out of the meeting, and the team made a proper project plan.

Once fixed, the project was a success.

Edit:One omission that I left out is RA is the CEO.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Pretend-Ad-7528 on 2025-06-13 10:50:55+00:00.

About 10 years ago, I worked in state government doing child care center inspections. We worked closely with another department who investigated allegations of child @buse and neglect. For the first few years, my boss was very warm and engaged towards me. She seemed like she wanted me to succeed. Then.....she asked me to write a grad school recommendation letter. I was 30 at the time and she was in her early 40s. Then, she asked me to have lunch with her son (no dad in picture, interested in criminal justice like me) so I said yes, to be kind.

Fast forward to 2016, elections came around and, inevitably she got wind of my political views. I don't talk about that stuff at work (for good reasons) so she only found out what side of the aisle that I'm on. That changed everything. The micromanaging, the passive aggressive emails, the constant enforcing of rules that was never done before etc.......

Anyway, I got called to investigate an @buse allegation. The director of the child care facility asked to see a video submitted to the state as evidence. I told them that they had to submit a written request for the video (as was state regulation). The next day, she asks why I didn't just show them the video. I told her it's a state regulation for them to do paperwork. She sent it to the center director the next day and put me on a PIP the next week.

Now, this got out to the rest of the department. I would say about 3/4 of the whole department started ignoring the requirement for the paperwork to see evidence. Myself and my other 5 coworkers who worked directly under my supervisors asked our Director to be moved to a different team. This all led to the Director (who would have to drive in from the state capital) having to sit in on every meeting with us and attend any all- staff meeting. Needless to say, my boss backed the fuck off for a while.

About 3 months afterwards, I got my current job making twice the salary and make my own schedule. Almost feels like I get treated like an adult at work (hard to imagine). I think she lasted another year or two and then was gone. People make things hard on themselves for no reason.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Interesting_Text6888 on 2025-06-13 06:04:39+00:00.

My last rental lease ended just as the stay on evictions was lifted in 20/21 because of Covid. We couldn't find a place to rent or buy reasonably. After 63 days in a hotel, with a puppy, we settled and pretty much bought the first thing we could.

We get the keys and a very large community guideline book at the same time. No problem I'll check that out later and I set it aside. We move in work on getting settled and have the most insane year ever. We get Covid, my brand new house starts on fire (two different times actually), I get put on medical leave and let go. So I kinda forgot the guidelines.

Spring shows up and so does a note on my door stating per guidelines I had 30 days to paint or stain my steps or I could be fined. We had actually just started to stain the back steps that very day. It just didn't sit well with me so I got out the guidelines.

Sure enough it states u must paint or stain your steps. Paint colors must b approved. Oh happy day it doesn't state stain colors must be approved. When they tried to make me restain them I went back to their book.

You are allowed to plant flowers and shrubs without approval but you must have mulch. No problem, I made my own blue mulch for the entire front yard.

I was told I need a certain percentage of grass in my yard. I asked for the percentage since there is not one in that book and then proceeded to plant every kinda of decorative grass I could find as a border in my front yard.

They showed up one day with clipboard and told me I had to take out at least 75% of the plants in my yard. I said done, as soon as all of my neighbors yards are 75% grass too. I really started something on that street since almost every house had done something drastic to their yard as well.

I'd attach a picture if I could. Neighbors would stop just to say they drive down my street everyday just to look at what was blooming.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/LTAA87912 on 2025-06-13 01:23:36+00:00.

My mom’s always been.. passionate about school. And to be fair, sometimes that passion comes from a good place—she can be super supportive when she wants to be. She’ll hype me up before a test, help me go over flashcards, celebrate good grades like we just won the lottery. She cares. But today? Today was not one of those supportive days. Today was one of the days where that passion was.. misplaced.

I told her, super reasonably, that I had five difficult assignments but was planning to do two today and finish the other three tomorrow. A completely normal, time-managed strategy. But she just stared at me like I was plotting a heist instead of managing my homework. Total silence, total judgment.

Then she said the thing that flipped the switch : “I want proof. Screenshots. Screenshots or it didn’t happen.”

Like I was lying. Like I was sitting in my room pretending to do work while secretly building a pillow fort. I just said “Okay,” and walked away. Calm. Collected. Not because I agreed, but because I had a plan.

Enter: Cherry Inc. CEO of Malicious Compliance.

She wanted screenshots? I was about to turn her request into a full-scale production. I didn’t just screenshot the completed assignments. No. I gave her a full digital timeline—start to finish—of every step I took. Screenshot: opening google classroom Screenshot: navigating to the classroom. Screenshot: opening the assignment. Screenshot: creating the Google Doc. Screenshot: naming the file. Screenshot: typing the first answer. Screenshot: submitting it. Screenshot: checking that it uploaded.

Every single screenshot came with a watermark I designed myself:

“Screenshot taken for MOM PROOF. Verified by Cherry Inc.”

It looked legit. Like a government-issued seal of academic validation. When I started sending them—one by one, no explanation—she finally responded. “Okay, what’s with the watermark? A little obnoxious.”

I didn’t flinch. I just said : “You said, ‘Screenshots or it didn’t happen.’ I wanted to make sure you knew it was accurate.” 

She paused. Blinked. And then dropped what I’d been waiting for: “I did indeed. Because I can’t trust you.” 

So I looked at her and said, without missing a beat: “You said screenshots or it didn’t happen. And it very much did.”

So yeah. She got her proof. She got all of her proof. In high-res. With timestamps. And branding.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/BelleCryla6 on 2025-06-12 18:12:10+00:00.

So this happened a few weeks ago when I started a new job at this very buttoned up corporate office . Think gray walls, serious faces and printers that only work when you threaten them. On a second day HR sent out this formal overly dramatic email with the subject line in bold caps. “DRESS CODE REMINDER, SHOES “ The body of the email was short and oddly strict, All employees are expected to wear black shoes no exceptions . Nothing about style type, material just black shoes.

Now I had my regular black dress shoes ready to go. But something about the way they worded that email, so vogue, so aggressive, triggered my inner petty goblin. So the next day, I walked into the office wearing black Crocs , yes real crocs with socks, holes full comfort mode. The kind your dad wears to grill.

I say down at my desk logged in like nothing was happening, a few heads turned, I even caught someone whispering “Are those crocs?” In a horrified tone like I had brought a live chicken to work. About an hour later, my manager walked by stopped, stared down at my feet and said, you can’t be serious , I smiled sweetly. But they are black shoes,HR didn’t specify.

He blinked clearly fighting an internal HR policy induced breakdown. He opened his mouth then closed it again, defeated. Technically I guess you’re right, he muttered and walked off . For the rest of the week, I wore them every single day, and every single day people got bolder with their reactions. One person asked if I’d lost a bet , another just laughed and said you’re brave.

By Friday morning, I knew I’d win . HR sent a new email titled : UPDATED: SHOE GUIDELINES. To clarify black shoes must be formal ,closed toe , and office appropriate. Casual footwear such as crocs , flip flops or sandals are not permitted.

Mission accomplished, the policy had been rewritten because of my glorious black crocs.