Hey, you might as well go big or go home, right?

That goes for a lot of things in life, including maliciously complying with the rules at work!

And this person really went BIG!

Check out their story below and see what you think!

Same punishment for being 5 minutes late as being 3 hours late? Sure, no problem!

“So I’m working for a low-level corporation, about 450 employees.

I’ve been there for 5 years and have risen to the top of my department’s productivity levels. I mention this as it does pertain to the story. Management had a policy that latecomers would be penalized, but that lateness could be excused under some circumstances.

I was good at my job, and I actually loved doing it, so I was more or less a dream employee. I always showed up to work 20-30 minutes early because I liked to sit in the lunchroom and prepare for my day. Management knew I was almost always early, so if I was late from time to time (and such instances were rare) they’d let it slide, as there was always a valid reason.

Now for some other employees this latitude wasn’t applied. Chronically late employees would get written up and not have their constant lateness excused. They’d complain, of course, but management was firm. They ran an actual meritocracy, where more-productive employees would experience preferential treatment.

Then the business gets sold and we get new management. An international corp only interested in buying us up, stripping us down and selling off the company. Of course, they denied this constantly, but the fact that over the next 2 years they stripped us down and sold off the company proved they were lying.

New management comes in and has to make a bunch of idiotic changes. One of those changes is that no reasons for being late are accepted, regardless of validity. Anyone 5+ minutes late for work would be written up. So at the team meeting where this is explained, I asked, “So if someone is 5 minutes late, and someone else is 3 hours late, the punishment is the same?” And they said yes.

From that day on, I stopped coming in early. I’d still head to work at my usual time, but I sat in a local coffee shop instead of my work’s lunchroom. This meant that my work missed out because in the past I would often help out by answering questions, even start work early if needed. Because I loved my job, and the old management were wonderful bosses.

No more of that under new management. In fact, if something happened (like unexpectedly bad traffic) and I was going to end up being a few minutes late, I’d just say “f**k it”. If being 3 hours late is the same punishment as 5 minutes late, I’d just decide to come in later. I’d call work to tell them I was delayed, then go out and have a leisurely meal in a restaurant, or run some personal errands, go shopping, even see a movie, etc.

Depending on my mood, and how sh**ty the new management had been lately, what would have been, say, a 7-minute lateness on my part would end up seeing me roll in 3 hours late. Sure, it cost me a few bucks, but I made almost as much in bonuses than I did in hourly salary, so missing out on a few hours here and there didn’t bother me too much.

I’d come in 3 or 4 hours late and my new bosses would be fuming. Nothing they could do though but write me up for the basic tardy, same as they would have if I was 5 minutes late.”

Here’s how folks reacted.

This person shared a story about the late policy at an old job of theirs.

This Reddit user talked about how they managed people.

And this person had a manager with a great late policy.

I don’t understand why companies do stuff like this.

So weird.