Malicious Compliance

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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.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Commander_Prism on 2025-06-12 20:23:01+00:00.

(Queens, New York City) A man named Anthony Della Vecchia was being sued because a woman slipped and fell on the sidewalk outside his business and lot. She also tried to sue the city for this, but the city backed out saying that Della owned the sidewalk as part of his property lines. Anthony decided, "Alright, Bet!" and built a giant chain link fence that extends across about 50 ft. worth of sidewalk and into the road, and is blocking off like ten parking spaces as an added bonus.

The City gave him a deadline to remove the fence by May 17th, but he's refused stating that he owns the property and has even provided documentation, such as maps and property titles.

Here's the News Article if you wanna read it. I'm sure that other news outlets are also reporting on it in the event you don't wanna read through Fox. I know at least CBS has put a report out on the story as well.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/SmellyCat0007 on 2025-06-12 19:15:18+00:00.

Used to be the tech lead at a mid-sized SaaS company. When clients had serious issues, I'd jump in and solve them fast. Everyone was happy.

Then a new manager shows up and declares: "All client communication must go through me. No exceptions."

Okay, boss.

One day, a major client hits a production outage. They're calling, emailing, freaking out. I have the fix. But I remember the rule.

So, I wait.

Manager is in a meeting. For 40+ minutes. By the time he replies, the client has escalated to upper management and is already threatening to cancel the contract.

Afterwards, I get asked why I didn’t help. I just said: "You told me not to talk to clients."

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/IndependentSigns on 2025-06-12 18:56:13+00:00.

We had a fire drill at work last week. Before it started, the announcement came over the PA: “If you leave the property during the drill, don’t bother coming back” it was 2:00 in the afternoon. my box was quiet, meetings were done, and my car was parked two blocks away. So when the alarm went off and we all filed outside, I just kept walking. went straight to my car and drove home. Next day, my manager asked why I left. I said, “They told us not to come back if we left” he blinked for a second, then said nothing. I was just following instructions, and enjoying an early end to my Tuesday.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/One-Wedding-8535 on 2025-06-12 17:29:08+00:00.

I worked in a call center that serviced cable and internet packages. Management implemented a new policy: “You MUST follow the script exactly, every time. No improvising. No skipping. No exceptions.”

I asked if that still applied during escalated calls when a customer is already yelling. Got told “Yes. Always.”

Okay.

So I get this guy who’s fuming because his service was disconnected due to a billing error on our end. He’s demanding a supervisor. I apologize, and start the required script: “Thank you for choosing Evergreen Communications. My name is”

He interrupts: “Fix my service NOW or I’m canceling!”

I say, “Before we proceed, I’m required to let you know this call may be recorded”

He screams. I keep going.

By the fourth line of the script, he hangs up.

He later emailed corporate. Management called me in and asked why I didn’t de-escalate.

I pulled out the memo and read: “No improvising. No skipping. No exceptions.”

They didn’t reply. New memo dropped two days later: “Use best judgment during escalated calls.”

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Sordonir on 2025-06-12 16:20:59+00:00.

My former small company was bought by a much bigger one. When this happened our time management system changed to a new one. Nothing extraordinary here. The new system however had a major flaw: it substracted half an hour of mandatory break every day from your hours but you could not manually clock out for longer breaks or the system would break. I however was taking longer breaks on some days. This was common before and I (and my colleagues) had the approval of my supervisor for it. So with the new system I could not clock out for my breaks properly - it had to be manually adjusted each day. I talked to my supervisor about it, he told me to go to HR and let them sort the system out. I went to HR, explained that I had approval to take longer breaks and asked how to use the system correctly. I got this exact reply in writing: "don't clock out on your breaks, the system works automatic" It was clear from the phone call earlier that what they wanted to say was: don't take breaks longer than 30 minutes. But that was not what was written. I answered and thanked them for the clarification.

Cue malicious compliance: I did exactly as I was told: I took long breaks every single day but the system only ever counted them as 30 minutes. On some days I took like 2 or more hours of break, went into the city from the office to get some ice cream or do some shopping and did never use more than 30 minutes of time for it. My "overtime" hours were going so high that I was ordered to take multiple days a month off to compensate... This went on for about 2 and a half years until we were sold again and the new system sadly did not have the same flaw...

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/BookOfMormonProject on 2025-06-12 15:38:10+00:00.

I worked for a government agency that provided a service to the public through a website.

I was working on a part of the website that confirmed whether or not users wished to delete their user accounts. As usual, to protect against accidental (or malicious) account deletion the user has to click "Delete my account", they are then shown a screen "are you sure you wish to delete your account?", and if they click "Yes" then their browser goes off and tells the server to delete their account (and withdraw from all jobs they've applied for).

This next bit is a tiny bit technical for those who are interested.

1. When you go somewhere in your browser it sends a GET request to the server because it wants to get the page contents + image contents etc.
2. When you submit a form (such as signing in, or confirming you wish to delete your account) your browser sends a POST request to the server.

*A POST means the server is going to change something (such as deleting your account) whereas a GET merely means "give me something but don't make any changes". When you click a link in a browser (e.g. from Twitter), your browser will only ever do a GET, it will *never* a POST. This is why confirming you want to delete your account should be a POST, so nobody can trick you into visiting a link and doing some harm.*

So, back to the story....

The project manager was really rubbish at her job, she wasn't technical at all. Another member of staff used to "assist" her, which basically involved him doing all of her work and her asking him how he did it but never seeming to remember.

I was making some modifications to the site in this area when I spotted the requirement was to have the Delete Account Confirmation page as a GET. I pointed out to her that I could easily send her a link in an email and if she clicked it then it would delete her account on the server and withdraw her from all her job applications - and that we should change the requirement to make it a POST.

To hide her inadequacies she would often shout people down, and that's exactly what she did. Told me just to do what I am supposed to be doing rather than trying to change the requirements at this late stage and delay the release. The problem is, from experience I knew that she often makes uneducated decisions and then when they backfire she either genuinely doesn't remember them or lies. So, I went back to my computer and I wrote to her.

Paraphrased "Can you confirm something for me? The specification says to make the Delete Account Confirmation screen a GET request. It really should be a POST because it deletes users' accounts. I am concerned a malicious person could post a link on Twitter and everyone who follows it will have their account deleted and all their job applications cancelled. I just want to make sure I have understood you properly and I am not being thick. You said you want it to remain a GET request rather than changing it to the more secure POST request, is that right?"

She replied "Yes, as it is in the specification".

So, I went and implemented it as instructed.

Once the changes had been deployed to our internal test servers, I emailed the head of the Quality Assurance team.

"Hi Lead-QA Have you seen this cool job on the server?" with a link to...can you guess? That's right, the "Delete Account Confirmation" page.

He received the email, opened it up, then clicked the link text that said "this cool job". A browser opened, took him to the test server, and he was greeted with a message telling him how sorry we were to see him go, and that all his job applications have been withdrawn as requested.

Lead-QA: Whaaaat? Where have all my test job applications gone?

(Typing frantically)

Lead-QA: They've actually gone! Is this a trick? Are they REALLY deleted?

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He asked how I had "hacked" the system, and I explained to him the rookie error that had been made. He logged a top priority critical security fault and rejected the release candidate, delaying the release until it was fixed and could be re-tested the next day.

When she saw the bug that had been logged, the project manager went mad. "Who wrote this?" she demanded to know, loudly, in front of the whole office.

"I did," I said.

"Why on earth would you make it so other people can so easily trick you into deleting your account?"

I walked over to her, so I could speak quietly and not embarrass her. "I did warn this would be possible, but you insisted this is the way you wanted it".

Now this is the point where she always claims she would never do something stupid. "No, I said the opposite".

Me: No, you definitely said to do it this way.

Her: No, you've misunderstood. This way makes no sense, I would never have told you to do something that makes no sense!

My experience was that she often told me to do things that made no sense, and then when they backfired she would say she couldn't possibly have said to do something so nonsensical and the fault must lie with someone else.

Her: I suggest you go back and do it properly.

I went back to my computer, pulled up the text conversation, and called her over.

Me: Look, this is where I explicitly asked if you want me to do it as a GET as per the specification, and what will be possible if we don't change it to a POST, and you told me to do it according to the specification".

Her: (Quietly) Well, just change it.

Me: I will. I will do it properly.

The release was delayed for a day so it could go through testing again.

Note: Testers wipe the server clean for each test round and rebuild the data through scripts, so I didn't upset the Lead QA guy...much :)

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/flirtyfoxyy on 2025-06-12 15:14:27+00:00.

I work for US client but I’m residing outside the US. I manage their Shopify store. My job is upload new products, post them also on Etsy and eBay, and make sure title, tags, and SEO are correct. I work remote full time, Monday to Friday.

Before, I send small report at end of each day. Just short message like “added 15 products, synced to eBay, fixed homepage layout issue.” Very simple. Everything was okay.

Then one day, client message me. They say, "Can you make reports more detailed? Please include everything you do during your shift."

Okay. You want everything? I give everything.

Next day, I write full report from start to end. I include everything I do. Open Shopify. Check stock. Edit one word in product title. Refresh Slack. No message. Adjust image size because it look weird on mobile. Sync to Etsy. Fix small typo in description. Change tag from “minimalist” to “modern minimalist.”

I also include when I stand up to drink water. When I go bathroom. I even write what I cook for lunch. At 12:35 PM, I boiled egg and fried rice with leftover chicken. Took 25 minutes including eating and cleaning plate.

At end of shift, report is almost two full pages. Look like I’m writing blog.

Client no reply that day. Next day, also nothing.

Two days later, they send one line only. "Okay, you can go back to old report format."

No problem boss.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Admirable_End_8232 on 2025-06-12 14:28:58+00:00.

I use me to work at a retail store that had a super outdated inventory system. It was so slow, clunky and everyone had found smarter shortcuts to get things done faster like everyone except our new manager.

One day, she noticed I was getting through inventory checks too quickly and told me I “must” be skipping steps. I explained that I wasn’t skipping anything, just doing it more efficiently. She didn’t care. “Follow the manual to the letter” she said “No exceptions”.

The next day, I followed the manual EXACTLY. Every. Single. Step. Including waiting for old loading screens to refresh fully, printing out unnecessary paperwork, and getting signatures from supervisors who had no clue why they were needed.

What normally took me an hour took FOUR HOURS. I blocked the whole process. Everything slowed down. Other departments started calling to ask why their reports weren’t ready. My manager? She had to step in and finish the rest herself.

After that? She never mentioned the manual again.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/brookssofia on 2025-06-12 14:25:14+00:00.

I used to work in logistics for a fashion brand. A few months ago, we had a large order of handbags going out to one of our retail store. I noticed the delivery label said Store #214, but the attached invoice was for Store #241. Big difference one's a smaller suburban location, the other was prepping for a product launch.

I flagged it to our ops manager. He cut me off with: "It's not your job to question the packing list. Just process the paperwork."

So I did exactly that. The shipment went to the wrong store.

We didn't find out until regional called in a panic, asking why the launch store didn't get their delivery. We lost time, had to pay for some-day freight to fix it and the flagship missed day one of the promo.

My manager never said a word about it. But a month later, I was asked to review all store shipment labels before they go out officially added to my role.

Guess it was my job after all.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Picdesign on 2025-06-12 12:23:19+00:00.

So this happened a few years ago when I worked at a warehouse for a major retail chain. I was a low-level picker, meaning I grabbed items off shelves and packed them for shipping. Not glamorous, but I took pride in doing it efficiently.

Now, the layout of the warehouse was... let’s say “sub-optimally designed.” Some items were placed in the farthest corners, while others you'd need a ladder, a forklift, and divine intervention to reach. After a few weeks, I started making small changes to improve workflow — grouping items that were often ordered together, reorganizing poorly labeled bins, and suggesting process tweaks that shaved off hours in picking time.

At first, my manager “Todd” seemed mildly impressed. But then corporate came for a walkthrough, and when they asked Todd how these improvements were implemented, he took full credit.

When I politely mentioned that I had been the one making the changes on the ground, Todd pulled me aside afterward and said:

“Look, we don’t pay you to think. Just do your job.”

Well, okay then.

Cue malicious compliance.

From that day forward, I stopped making any suggestions. If an item was buried under three pallets of stuff, I waited for forklift assistance. If something was mislabeled, I’d pick the wrong item — exactly as labeled. If two items were always shipped together but stored 100 meters apart, I made two trips instead of one. I followed every rule and instruction to the letter.

Productivity tanked. Mistakes increased. Complaints from clients rolled in. After two weeks of this, Todd was getting chewed out in every manager meeting. Eventually, his boss came down to talk to me directly and asked what changed.

I just smiled and said:

“Todd told me I’m not paid to think.”

The next week, Todd was transferred to another location (aka “the warehouse Siberia”), and I was promoted to workflow coordinator.

Now I get paid to think. A lot.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Financial-Bid2739 on 2025-06-11 15:45:16+00:00.

Every week for the past 17 weeks we at NPS (National park service) and other government agencies have to put in a 5 bullet point (at least 5) for “What did you do last week?” Email report. When they first started and we got the notice from OPM (office of personnel management) they labeled them with part numbers. But only for the first 2 weeks. I have intentionally been adding the part number to the title of every email to keep track and see just how long we have to send out these emails when we already have to keep track of what we do daily in FBMS(Financial and business management system). Projects, cleaning, maintenance, fleet work, you name it it’s already tracked. But they insist we take time out of the day to basically rewrite what we’ve already done and have tracked on the system that anyone I’m sure in DOI (Department of the interior) has access to to see what we’re doing. So I don’t put a greeting in the emails just the title which this week will be “What Did You Do Last Week (Part XVII)” a numbered list of only 5 things and my name and the park code. It’s annoying to do but I get a small kick out of the part number.

Edit: to add what the acronyms mean to us feds. Also I’ll add the “fallout” that being that DOGE (department of government efficiency) has added to the work load in the name of government efficiency by firing those of us that are essential to park operations via these 5 bullet points weekly, by taking away positions that are needed and unfilled to begin with in order to operate. And 17 weeks in with already keeping track of everything we do by doing more paperwork to make what we’ve already done redundant. In the end these emails are merely a waste of time since there will be another government shutdown most likely come end of September when the budget/fiscal year ends. The NPS and many other agencies like FEMA (federal emergency management agency) will be cut entirely. I’m not worried about finding another job it’s in upset with the inevitability of losing a job I love and worked hard to get.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/strubisach on 2025-06-12 09:11:10+00:00.

A short tale, not too juicy but for a young post-grad who was new in the workforce, it was delicious.

My part-time job (60%) was project based, but after a few months I was able to add another part-time-position (40%) within the same team but with a different boss. She was a subordinate of my original boss who I had an agreement with, that I could work from home every Monday and Friday, something that was communicated early but as I didn't have much contact with the team, I still came in most of the Mondays and Fridays, "for the team spirit".

As life is life-ing, I had construction workers over and needed one of my in-office days to be WFH, which had never presented as a problem before. Apparently, me spending the previous Monday afternoon out of office (but still onlline and available) was such a thorn in my second boss' side, that she had to shoot me a message saying I should think well about my work ethics in the future - Boomer vs. GenZ I guess.

So I agreed and never switched a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday to a work-from-home-day again - but I also never came in on a Monday or Friday again. As it stood, that was my scheduled WFH day anyways...