Malicious Compliance

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/SingKara on 2025-06-06 08:36:35+00:00.

So, I work part time at a small community centre. I handle basic admin and help tidy up the shared kitchen, which is used by different groups throughout the week. The fridge is always a warzone, half-eaten cakes, mystery containers, expired milk and the likes.

Last week, we had a meeting about cleanliness and our manager was especially fed up about the fridge. She said, From then on, if anything in the fridge isn’t clearly labelled with a name and date, it should be thrown away. No questions. I asked her if it should be thrown if it looks new or expensive, she said, Yes, if it's not labelled, it should be binned.

This Monday, I did a proper sweep. I tossed out a bunch of stuff. Unlabelled hummus, leftover pizza and a suspicious casserole dish. Then I found a pristine box of individually wrapped pastries, easily £15 worth from a nice bakery. No name, no date, in the bin it went.

About an hour later, chaos.

Our manager came in livid. Apparently, those were her pastries, brought in for a private workshop later that day. I just apologised and told her that I simply followed her instructions to the letter. No label, no date so I binned it.

She went quiet for a few seconds, then mumbled something about clarifying the policy.

Fridge is sparkling now, though and labelled.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Outrageous_Girls on 2025-06-06 07:51:49+00:00.

A few years ago when I was working as a kitchen hand in a quirky seafood bistro run by a chef who I swear was riding a power high from too much espresso and way too many anchovies. Part of my gig involved gutting and prepping fish in the back before service kicked off. One day, the head chef barges in, his face as red as a lobster, because someone had the audacity to complain that I was "wasting time washing my hands too often."

I had just finished cleaning three sea bass, and let me tell you, my hands smelled like Poseidon's armpit. But Chef, in all his wisdom, bellowed “You don’t need to wash your hands after every fish! You’re slowing down the kitchen! Wash them at the end, not in between!”

I paused, locked eyes with him, and replied, “Got it.” For the next week, I prepped fish, shelled shrimp, dealt with squid guts, and scaled mackerel all without washing my hands until the very end. I followed that rule like it was the holy grail. It didn’t matter if I had to carry plates, touch pantry ingredients, or help plate a dish. I did it all with Eau de Halibut on my fingers.

It took just three days before the sous chef nearly lost her lunch into the mop bucket after I handed her a lemon wedge. Then, on day five, a health inspector decided to drop by unannounced.

The chef ended up with a $2,000 fine and a temporary downgrade on the sanitation score. He never mentioned handwashing to me again.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Amore-Excellent on 2025-06-05 19:08:46+00:00.

Growing up, my dad was pretty much a control freak when it came to how things ran in our house especially when it was time for dinner. He wasn’t a terrible cook, but let’s just say his idea of gourmet was boiled chicken and steamed broccoli. One day, feeling a bit brave, I asked if we could switch things up maybe have tacos or, you know, just a sprinkle of seasoning.

He grunted back “If you don’t like what I make, cook it yourself.” Most teens would probably roll their eyes and move on. But not me. I took that as a personal challenge. That weekend, I dove into the world of cooking. I scoured recipes, binge-watched YouTube tutorials, and whipped up a full three-course meal Cajun chicken tacos with homemade pico de gallo, Spicy roasted corn, Chocolate lava cake from scratch. My family was stunned. Even my dad, the ultimate critic, polished off his plate in silence and then mumbled, “That was... actually pretty good.”

The very next day? “So, uh... what’s for dinner tonight, Chef?” Enter my glorious reign of malicious compliance. I took over dinner every night for the next two months. I seasoned everything to perfection. I got adventurous. I made spicy curry. I grilled steaks. I even made sushi once just to show off.

Eventually, Dad tried to “help” one night and plopped boiled broccoli on my plate. I shot him a look and said “If you don’t like it, make it yourself.”

He never dared to touch my food again.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/MollyMeringue4 on 2025-06-05 18:09:49+00:00.

Back in my teenage years, I worked as a meat trimmer and had a habit of arriving late. After one too many tardies, my boss sternly warned me, “Don’t be late again.” Anticipating that I might slip up, I jokingly asked my mom to write me a note excusing any future lateness.

Sure enough, I was late again. My boss, exasperated, said, “You can keep your job if you have a note from your mom.” To his surprise, I pulled out the note. The entire crew burst into laughter, and my boss was left speechless. He kept the letter but still fired me two days later. It was worth it for the laugh.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/i_dont_wanna_sign_in on 2025-06-05 14:41:21+00:00.

Used to work for a business office some ages ago. You clocked in by swiping a card on a time clock in the elevator lobby. Swipe out/in for lunch, etc. Pretty simple. You were paid in 3-minute increments and so some people would come up a bit short or long (with OT) by the end of the week. The reader machines took ages to register you so you had to stand there to be 100% certain you were clocked in/out. There could be very long queues. If you got more than an hour of OT you might get a talkin' to, but most of the time nobody said anything. Managers were also pretty chill about letting you come in whenever as long as you were at your desk during hours where they let you call patients.

Then one day this mandate comes out, absolutely NO overtime without VP approval. For the most part nothing bad happens except now managers have to be on your case if you're clocking in early and out late and racking 30+ minutes of OT on any check.

After a few months of people being a no more particular about clocking in/out, a new directive comes down the pipe. No schedule changes whatsoever, everyone is assigned a schedule and will stick to it for life. You MUST clock between 6 minutes before your start, no later than 3 minutes after. Flip that on the way out. 3 minutes early, up to 6 minutes late.

About 30 people started at 9am and so they would be queued at the punch clocks, beginning at 0854 and 2-3 of them would be 'tardy'. I was one of the rare few that was allowed to be in at an abnormal time (0730) and didn't have to queue to punch in/out.

I know math and so do you. We've all got time to maliciously comply!

12 extra minutes, 4 days a week is 48 minutes, then clocking in 6 minutes early on Friday gets you up to 54 minutes. Every Friday around 10 in the morning, for almost 3 years, my manager walks over and orders me to clock out an hour early so that I will not get overtime. Every Friday she tells me "You really can't be doing this" and every Friday I ask her if there's a new company policy, which always garners a sigh as she walked away.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/DearKaleidoscope600 on 2025-06-05 12:16:45+00:00.

couple weeks ago my boss gave me this whole speech about “time theft” and how we had to clock out right at 5, like not 5:01. so last Tuesday we’re in a client call that started at like 4:30, it’s still going and 5:00 hits. I just said “alright i gotta clock out” and logged off.

He messaged me later like “wait r u serious?” and i said “yeah i thought u didn’t want anyone working off the clock” he didn’t answer. next meeting got scheduled for 3:45 lol, guess that policy expired fast.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/HappyXVixen on 2025-06-05 10:06:57+00:00.

I used to work in HR at a mid sized tech company. Our manager, Lisa, had this obsession with power, she would micromanage everything, undermine people in meetings and forget to approve time off requests until the day before, just to keep people on edge.

One day, after I gently pushed back on her altering someone’s performance review she called me into her office and said. If you're going to challenge decisions, I suggest you start documenting everything. Otherwise, it’s just your word against mine.

Oh Lisa. You shouldn't have said that.

So I did exactly what she told me.

Every vague instruction she gave? I followed up with an email: Just confirming our conversation where you asked me to discard the resume from the disabled veteran applicant?

Every time she denied a PTO request outside of policy? Logged and saved.

Every off the record chat she tried to have about firing someone because she didn’t like their vibe? Typed up a memo and emailed it to myself with timestamps.

For six months, I quietly built a dossier.

Then came the final straw, she tried to pin a payroll error on me that shorted three people’s bonuses. She CC’d the director, claimed I was sloppy and suggested I needed retraining.

That’s when I BCC’d everything, to HR compliance, legal and the VP.

Three days later, Lisa’s office was packed up. Turns out my documentation also revealed she'd been age discriminating in hiring and had manipulated at least two internal investigations.

She was escorted out.

When people asked how it all unraveled so fast, I just smiled and said:

She told me to document everything. So I did.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Amore-Excellent on 2025-06-05 09:55:06+00:00.

My neighbor has always been a bit intense about his lawn. He’s the type who measures grass height and complains if your dandelions blow over the invisible line between your properties.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I was watering a few potted plants on my front porch. Not spraying them wildly, just a slow pour from a can. Gary walks over, hands on hips, and says: “You really shouldn’t be wasting water like that. It runs off your porch and onto my side.”

It… dripped a little into the dirt between our driveways.

I say I’m just watering my plants. He huffs and says, Well then don’t let a drop come over here. I don’t want your water waste killing my grass.

So I smile, say Got it and stop watering completely. Even the pots that hang near the edge of the property line. I go full compliance.

The following week, we hit a heat wave. Every blade of grass on his side starts yellowing. Meanwhile, my little porch jungle is thriving because I started using those glass self watering bulbs and only watering late at night when he’s asleep and it soaks in before he can see a drop.

Yesterday he comes by, squinting at my plants, and says: Funny how yours look so green.

I just said: Guess I stopped wasting water, huh?

He didn’t say another word. But I swear, I saw him watering his grass at 4 a.m. this morning like it was a covert op.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Illuminatus-Prime on 2025-06-05 01:05:35+00:00.

tl;dr: Like every other SIYL story, it involves an experienced worker, a new "manager", a "manager's" decree, malicious compliance, and the "manager" looking like a fool. Fallout may not be what you expect. Names were changed and unnecessary details left out to prevent doxxing.

• • •

Long ago, before ChatGpt, before Reddit, and even before the Internet (ARPANet doesn't count here), I was a college kid brought in as a part-time bench tech at a family-run appliance store. I did my job well enough to reduce their backlog of repairs to practically zero -- only those items awaiting new parts were still on my bench.

Owner's daughter ("Jane", nhrn) ran the office. A really nice cutie. She could sell snow to the Eskimos.

Owner hired a new salesperson ("John", nhrn) who immediately took a shining to Jane and tried to monopolize her attention.

(When I took my Psych classes, I learned he was likely a Narcissist with BPD.)

One day, Jane went across the street for some donuts. I held the door open for her and offered to carry the box to the office.

John immediately tells me to get back to work and to "Stay in my lane" (or words to that effect) in front of Jane, the owner, and a couple of customers.

Cue the MalComp

The next week, John escorts Jane across the street, and comes back alone with not just one, but three boxes of donuts. (Jane had another errand to run.)

I watch from across the salesroom as John tries to pull the "Push" door open. Of course, he fumbles the boxes, which spill onto the sidewalk.

"Daffock is wrong widchu? Why daffock dintchu help me?"

"That's not in my lane, John -- remember?"

Owner comes out, hears both of our stories, tells me to clean up the mess, and takes John into his office and closes the door.

I was able to consolidate the donuts that hadn't hit the sidewalk into one box. The rest went to feed the dogs out by the dumpsters.

Cue the Fallout

Guess who got fired? The narcissistic bully-boy woofing after the owner's daughter, or the part-time bench-tech whose efficiency resulted in good customer service and a lot of buffer time?

Clue: Not the narcissist.

I picked up another similar job at the competition across town.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Yellow_Wood_Wanderer on 2025-06-04 19:52:29+00:00.

Update 1: I thought about it and emailed the appropriate muckity mucks so they couldn’t jam me up for not doing my job, and not telling them what was up. I have a whoopsie email chain now. The earliest the issue will be fixed is Wednesday. Aaannnnddd my counterpart in a different office starts vacation tomorrow so I’m not sure who will get stuck with the phones.

Original Post: I thought I would share my in progress malicious compliance at work. A little back story my office is an old residential building converted to a flex space so the interior layout is quirky at best. When I started my ‘office’ was in the space that used to be a closet. To say I had very little work space is an understatement. Fast forward to last week. Remodeling has been done and staff moved around and I have been told I will have a legit office now! Awesome right?! Wrong the decision comes down today no office for me, after I had already moved into said office. I have to swap with a coworker that has an open design workspaces, said coworker does NOT want an office. We are told it doesn’t matter what we want, we have to change. Now cue the malicious compliance…I move desks, but I don’t have an office phone. Well I do, but it goes to nothing. There is no phone line, jack, etc anywhere near the part of the building I am now located. Did I mention that a not insignificant part of my job is answering the phone, and if I don’t the phone starts ringing to all the company extensions. So now we are playing a game called, how long before the people that are ‘smarter’ than me figure out they made a big, big mistake?!

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/VelvetVanillaWhisper on 2025-06-04 17:38:25+00:00.

I used to work at a small retail store where the manager was obsessed with “sticking to the schedule.” Like, no helping with tasks that weren’t written in your official hourly breakdown.

One day, I finished my assigned duties early ,stocking a small section and organizing a shelf. I saw a coworker struggling with a heavy delivery in the back and offered to help, like any normal human would.

Manager saw me and stormed over: “What are you doing? That’s not your scheduled task.” I explained I was just helping out since I was done early. “Doesn’t matter. Follow your schedule exactly.” Okay then.

So I went back to my area, which was spotless, and just… stood there. For 2 full hours. Staring at the already-stocked shelves.

Customers asked for help? “Sorry, not my department.”

Boxes were piling up in the back? Not my task.

At the end of the shift, the manager gave me a weird look and said, “You didn’t do much today.” And I just smiled and said, “I was following the schedule exactly like you asked.”

She never said that again.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Shadoe17 on 2025-06-03 19:00:43+00:00.

My manager was new to the company, and I've been here over 18 years and pretty well run my area solo. We are a high end production facility, and I'm part of the incoming quality/test engineering team. I always stay well ahead of production, along with performing my other task. I consult with the production and inventory supervisors daily to ensure I know what's on the horizon and have anything they will need ready well ahead of time. I also get request from the development engineering group to test new products during development. All this requires strategic planning and the ability to shift direction at any time to keep a flow going. In steps this new manager, we had issue from the first meeting, seems he doesn't like being in a room where he isn't the smartest one there. So, after a few weeks of getting to know the place, he send an email, "No one can alter Oxxavier's schedule without going through me first. I will set his priorities and work hours going forward." I knew exactly what this would do to my balanced flow. Sure enough, the next week we had two produce design qualifications, and a customer surprise arrival to watch the testing. My manager left strict instructions that I was to remain on production material only. No one could get in contact with him. He had signed out as a "work from home" day, but he wasn't answering any of the numbers he had given. Turns out, they did eventually track him down at the local park, with his kids. But not before the customer had left, mad and frustrated. The next week he called me into his office, and he had the gall to try to write me up for not testing the product when the client arrived. I handed him a printed copy of his email, and insisted that the "write up" be witnessed by a member of the HR team. He reset the meeting for three days later, giving him time to prep the HR rep to his side of the story. First question she asked was why I didn't test the products when asked, and I handed her the email. "I was told if I violated this new policy he created I would be written up. So I followed it and still I'm being written up. I would like to file a harassment complaint against this manager." His voice cracked as he stammered out, " Now, let's just slow this down a bit." The HR rep knew she could ignore my charges, even if she didn't agree the company requires all harassment claims to be investigated. The meeting ended there. The harassment claim was documented as a verbal warning. And for the last two years he won't engage with me at all, he won't even let me know when we are having a staff meeting, I hear about it the next day from the others. Suits me, the less I see of him, the better.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Shadoe17 on 2025-06-03 19:00:50+00:00.

My manager was new to the company, and I've been here over 18 years and pretty well run my area solo. We are a high end production facility, and I'm part of the incoming quality/test engineering team. I always stay well ahead of production, along with performing my other task. I consult with the production and inventory supervisors daily to ensure I know what's on the horizon and have anything they will need ready well ahead of time. I also get request from the development engineering group to test new products during development. All this requires strategic planning and the ability to shift direction at any time to keep a flow going. In steps this new manager, we had issue from the first meeting, seems he doesn't like being in a room where he isn't the smartest one there. So, after a few weeks of getting to know the place, he send an email, "No one can alter Oxxavier's schedule without going through me first. I will set his priorities and work hours going forward." I knew exactly what this would do to my balanced flow. Sure enough, the next week we had two produce design qualifications, and a customer surprise arrival to watch the testing. My manager left strict instructions that I was to remain on production material only. No one could get in contact with him. He had signed out as a "work from home" day, but he wasn't answering any of the numbers he had given. Turns out, they did eventually track him down at the local park, with his kids. But not before the customer had left, mad and frustrated. The next week he called me into his office, and he had the gall to try to write me up for not testing the product when the client arrived. I handed him a printed copy of his email, and insisted that the "write up" be witnessed by a member of the HR team. He reset the meeting for three days later, giving him time to prep the HR rep to his side of the story. First question she asked was why I didn't test the products when asked, and I handed her the email. "I was told if I violated this new policy he created I would be written up. So I followed it and still I'm being written up. I would like to file a harassment complaint against this manager." His voice cracked as he stammered out, " Now, let's just slow this down a bit." The HR rep knew she could ignore my charges, even if she didn't agree the company requires all harassment claims to be investigated. The meeting ended there. The harassment claim was documented as a verbal warning. And for the last two years he won't engage with me at all, he won't even let me know when we are having a staff meeting, I hear about it the next day from the others. Suits me, the less I see of him, the better.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/tastiefreeze on 2025-06-03 16:02:37+00:00.

Packing the cancellation letter envelope full of glitter "as a token appreciation for such a simple, straightforward, customer centric cancellation process".

The most annoying component here is that the contract selected was specifically a more expense "cancel anytime, without reason" contract.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Mysterious-Notice500 on 2025-06-03 13:22:34+00:00.

I work in client services, mostly just relying info between clients and our internal teams, my manager isn’t super involved but last month she goes “can you cc me on every client email? just for transparency” I was like sure thing, so I cc’d her on literally everything including the emails where clients asked why she missed their meeting or where i had to explain delays from her not sending over files.

A few days later she starts replying to someone with “let’s take this offline” one client hit back with “this wouldn’t be an issue if you’d shown up”

she hasn’t brought up cc’ing since but if she does….I’ve got drafts ready.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/sswishbone on 2025-06-03 08:33:49+00:00.

This incident is from around eight years ago, though some important context is that twenty years ago - at university - I was a DJ for a show on my student radio station. Here I learned the "radio host voice" for between songs. Extremely positive, short burst.

So, onwards. I was a claims adjuster for an auto-insurer. My role served as first notification of loss, confirming what level of cover was held, if a vehicle was likely to be repaired or salvaged, potential liability outcome, and any underwriting concerns.

My natural tone of voice is quite flat and professional. So while a customer may have disliked certain outcomes, it was never hostile or complaint worthy.

However, one team leader auditted a telephone call I handled. Correct liability, correct offering of a repairer, correct attempt to capture third party claimant, correct timescales... Incorrect customer mirroring and service.

"You have set the correct expectations," they said. "But, you're far too flat and come across disinterested. That is not how we handle claims."

"The customer didn't complain," I said. "They even thanked me on the call."

"Our call standards are high service and care. You must be more energetic, I need to feel you on the call."

"Ten-four." I said. You'll get more energy. I thought.

So from that moment on? Full deployment of my radio annoumcer voice.

Customer can't have repairs due to damage?

"Your vehicle has rolled over! The repair will be more than the vehicle value, it's a total loss, you get no courtesy vehicle, thank you for calling, good afternoon!"

Another insurer disputes liability?

"I understand you support your client, but the facts of the case have my insured established and correctly proceeding. No, I'm not willing to concede this matter. Yes, I am aware you are litigating, you must serve papers at gives address. Thank you for calling and have an awesome day!"

To make matters even more ridiculous, my office had desks that rise and fall at a button press. So I would be stood up, voice projecting over the entire team, straight to the team leader.

Other adjusters would be muting calls while laughing, others taking bets on what threats the other caller was saying, while my leader stewed in their seat nailed in place by the call energy they felt.

The cherry on the cake being external auditors marking said calls as top marks all across the board. "Exemplary service and understanding attitude."

My leader was not impressed and could do nothing.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/West_Bike6088 on 2025-06-03 07:30:58+00:00.

So a few years back, I had an American friend visit the UK for the first time. Lovely guy but a bit loud, very confident, and full of opinions about how things should be done.

On his second day staying with me, he says something like, “Man, I love tea, but you Brits always make it too weak. I want a proper British cup of tea, strong enough to stand a spoon in. Show me how it's really done.”

Now, anyone who's grown up in the UK knows we all have wildly different ideas of what a proper cuppa is. Some like it dark and bitter, some pale and milky. But Dave was being a bit obnoxious about it telling me, a born and bred Brit, how to make British tea. So I decided to give him exactly what he asked for.

I rummaged through the cupboard and found a box of Yorkshire Tea. Boiled water, chucked in four bags into his oversized mug, he wanted a real cup, not one of our tiny dainty ones poured the water straight over them and let it brew for 10 minutes. No milk. No sugar. Just black, bitter tannin soup.

Then I handed it to him with the straightest face I could manage: “There you go, mate. Proper British tea. Builders style.”

He took a sip and immediately went red in the face. Started coughing like he'd just inhaled pipe smoke. “Damn, this tastes like a tree" he wheezes.

Well, I said, you did ask for proper British tea. That’s how me dad drinks it puts hairs on your chest.

To his credit, he tried to finish it, but gave up halfway through and asked for water instead. For the rest of his trip, he politely declined tea and stuck to coffee.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/sinful-sucker on 2025-06-03 03:18:16+00:00.

I worked for a micromanager who lived for email chains. He wanted every single task documented, no matter how minor. One day, he sent me a snarky message after I forgot to "CC the right people" on a short update:

"In the future, make sure your emails are more detailed. I need to see everything in writing."

Okay, boss. Challenge accepted. For the next two weeks, I documented every single thing.

“Opened Excel spreadsheet titled 'Q2 Budget Draft v6_FINAL_FINAL'. No edits made.”

"Replied to John's email, said 'Thanks.'"

"Spoke to Sarah in hallway about printer paper. Resolved."

“Finished typing this email. Re-read three times.”

Each email was multiple paragraphs long, filled with pointless details. I CC’d him on everything, even Slack screenshots of conversations he wasn’t in.

By day three, he asked me to “dial it back a bit.” By day five, he told me I didn’t need to CC him on “every breath I take.” By the end of the week, he asked if we could just go back to how things were before.

Sure thing, boss. All in writing, of course.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Weak-Story6835 on 2025-06-03 01:57:02+00:00.

This story wasn't an intentional Malicious Compliance response; it just sort of happened that way. This happened about 25 years ago.

Every year, my High School would organize a school trip to an amusement park just outside of town. In order to go on the trip, you had to fork over $10 and fill out a form (if you were under 16, your parent had to sign the form). Standard shit. But there was one teacher in charge who made it a point to remind us constantly that we weren't allowed to enter the Water Park, otherwise, we were allowed to do what we wanted so long as we didn't get in trouble or do anything that reflected poorly on the school. Fair enough.

Now, like I said at the start of this story, this malicious compliance wasn't intentional, but suffice it to say we arrived at the bus about fifteen minutes before it was scheduled to return to town, soaked to the bone. If looks could kill, we would've been dusted right then and there. So he demands to know what happened, and we told him.

You see, there's a ride at this park that is kind of a simple-looking roller coaster. It's not very high, and only has one drop but the caveat is the track is actually a slide with water, and the drop is over a body of water that causes a kind of wave that splashes both the rider and whoever is standing on the bridge across from the drop. We all stumbled across this ride while we were wandering the park, and debated whether or not we should go on it. We decided, unanimously even, that technically this ride wasn't in the Water Park, so riding it wasn't actually against the rules.

We rode it twice.

By the time we finished explaining, he was glaring daggers at each one of us and after a pause, he just pointed behind him and said "Get on the fucking bus." Everyone on the bus stared at us while we boarded, either thinking we were heroes or rebels. Whatever the case, I still laugh about this story whenever I tell it, and one of my friends suggested I should post this on Reddit under Malicious Compliance, so here we are.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Select-Sample-9944 on 2025-06-02 08:09:38+00:00.

This happened many, many years ago when I was a systems administrator for a now defunct company. I was to go to training and I ended up going to Canada to train on some then-new systems. No biggie. I kept my receipts and ended up overspending a bit because, well, I got to see the sights and got to have some tasty food.

When I got back, I submitted my expense report. I wrote down the numbers and factored in the current exchange rate (Canadian dollars to US Dollars) and figured that was that. I mean, being honest, right? Well, OMG, my boss's boss went to my boss and complained that I couldn't even add anything up! You see, the amount I was showing they owed me was LESS than what the receipts showed. (Canadian dollars were maybe worth 65 cents of American dollars.) So, it got rejected and my boss's boss said make them match.

I looked at my boss and said, "You know, that's Canadian, right?" My boss just shrugged and said, "Make him happy and make the numbers add up."

Well, okay then. I added the Canadian dollars up and didn't factor in the exchange rate. So, instead of requesting a reimbursement of (for example--not the actual numbers) $650 USD, I put down $1000 (CAD).

They cheerily paid it. 🤦‍♀️ Only me and my boss knew, but it was so much more trouble trying to do the RIGHT thing. No one ever tried to correct it. On the plus side, it pretty much paid for the extras on the trip.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Dulaman96 on 2025-06-02 07:18:24+00:00.

The company I used to work for changed their definition of overtime to be "Any hours worked over 40 per week" to avoid paying overtime to people who stayed later on any given day, and tried to encourage them to take that time in lieu.

I.e. if you worked 10 hours on Monday, you were encouraged to work 6 hours on Tuesday, instead of claiming 2 hours of overtime pay. (Here overtime pays at 1.5x your normal hourly rate, even if you're salaried).

When they changed these rules they forgot about my team. 99% of the company worked regular 9-5 monday-friday shifts but my team worked a 24/7 rotating shift.

Just by the nature of working shifts like that sometimes you end up working up to 55 hours in a single calender week by doing normal 8 hour shifts with no overtime. This was fine because it meant the next week you worked 25 hours or so. It always averaged out to be 80 hours a fortnight.

But by the wording of this new rule (which was written into our contracts by the union so they couldn't go back on it), we were suddenly entitled to loads of overtime.

It added up to about $6000 per year in extra pay from doing the exact same hours as before.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/alicewillsonxx on 2025-06-02 05:19:07+00:00.

I (18F) work as a receptionist at a small office. We’re a tight team, so I usually help with little things outside my role - stocking coffee, prepping meeting rooms, answering overflow calls from the back office.

Last week, we got a new office manager. First day, she told me: “From now on, stick strictly to your job description. No more doing other people’s work”.

She said it in that passive-aggressive way that basically meant: stay in your lane.

I said, “Okay, got it!”

So i stopped doing everything outside my job description. Didn’t refill the coffee when it ran out. Didn’t set up the boardroom for a big client meeting. Didn’t transfer calls that came in after-hours. Didn’t remind the guy in accounting about his 2PM Zoom (which i always used to).

It was absolute chaos by the end of the day. The manager pulled me aside and asked why I let everything fall apart. I smiled and said, “I’m just sticking to my job description. Like you said.”

She’s been a lot quieter since. And i’m still just doing my job.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/amerc4life on 2025-06-02 01:27:43+00:00.

OK so some background. I am a delivery driver working for one of the big delivery companies in the US. Today's delivery route includes a very high end neighborhood with very narrow streets that have cars parked on both sides. So even more narrow for my big delivery truck. My next package is a big one definitely a desk or flat pack furniture weighing at least 80lbs. I stop at the address and park my vehicle basically in the middle of the street. But i will be quick and I have my flashers on so no problem. From the delivery address a little old lady with the anger of Satan comes flying out yelling " you can't park here!" I say back " ok well where can I park to deliver this?" She says " the nearest parking for non residence is at the tennis court a half mile away " lugging a 80lb desk a half mile when I'm already stupid far behind and it's 110f outside no thanks. ...wait a minute reads label on package " are you Karen?" She responds "Well yeah but what does that have to do with you parking here" malicious compliance. Pulls emergency brake slams vehicle in drive seat belt still on " i am not in park so not parked " wiggles heavy big package out the window while holding down the brake. Placing it standing up at her feet scanned as left with resident. I yell as I drive off "package delivered safely have a nice day" I think i hear her say " wait you cant" as i drive off I look into my side view to see a very confused old lady looking at her desk then looking at my delivery truck barely fitting down her street. Yes there were better ways of handling this but all would require me to walk a half mile in the heat either to leave a notice or carry a desk. Either way I simply didn't have time for that. Not the best story on here but it made me feel good in the moment and I felt like I had to tell someone.

Sorry for the format and grammar. On mobile and typed this up on my very short break.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Peanutbuttered on 2025-06-01 23:15:25+00:00.

Apartment pool attendant said I need a towel to sit on the lounge chairs, even though I am fully clothed. Must be a new rule as I’ve been here 4 years. I said the rule is for people who are in bathing suits, which is very obvious. I said my sweatshirt is made of cotton and so are towels, so it’s just a towel that I’m wearing around me. He said it doesn’t satisfy the rule. So after a quick trip to my apartment, I asked him if it specifies what size the towel must be, to which he replied there isn’t a size rule. So I said, great! And placed my 1 inch by 1 inch towel back into my pocket and sat back down.

https://imgur.com/a/Nkuc2hg

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/SmellyCat0007 on 2025-06-01 20:13:28+00:00.

Back in high school, I had a science teacher who hated when students explained things in their own words. I loved writing creative, real-world examples in my answers, made things easier to remember and showed I understood the concept.

But after a test where I got marked down for not quoting the textbook exactly, she said:

From now on, stick to the definitions from the book. Word for word. No paraphrasing.

Okay, fair enough.

So for the next test, I followed her instructions to the letter. Every answer was verbatim from the textbook. Even the questions that clearly needed some explanation or thought, I just dropped in the definition and moved on.

I ended up getting a lower grade than usual. She marked a few answers incomplete or not fully explained.

I politely reminded her that she told us to use only textbook definitions, nothing extra. Showed her the note I wrote down from class. Her response?

Well, I meant stick to the definition, but also explain your understanding.

Oh. So now it's both?

After that, the rule quietly disappeared and we were encouraged to use both the textbook and our own understanding.

Sometimes, doing exactly what you're told is the best way to prove a point.