You gotta know the rules, folks.

That goes for a lot of things in life, but if you’re a boss and you have union workers underneath you, you better REALLY know the rules.

Because unions don’t play around.

And this story from a Reddit user illustrates exactly what I’m talking about.

It all started when they got a text from their boss on a day off.

Calling me on a day off? *cha-ching*

As a unionized employee I get every 3rd Friday off.

On my day off, I am playing some video games and get a text from the boss. “I know it’s your day off but…” Whatever, that’s easy to ignore. But then I get a second text. And after I ignore that I get a call.

Boss: “I know it’s your day off but our phones are down!”

Me: “No worries, I’ll handle it!”

They decided that they could take care of this issue.

We hang up and I call our phone provider. I’m the IT and the contact there, and this isn’t my first call ever to them so I literally have their service department saved in my phone.

I call, I register the problem, and they say they’ll look in to it. I provide them my boss’ name and extension, and to call him when it’s fixed. I then call my boss back and let him know that they’ll call him ASAP.

But there was a catch…

But now for the malicious compliance bit: our contract stipulates a minimum call in of 4 hours, meaning that you cannot pay me less than 4 hours for a day (unless it is by my own choosing).

If you call me in for an hour and send me home, I get 4 hours of pay.

But wait, there’s more! We also have an overtime clause that pays OT at 150%.

And lastly, we have a clause that says all OT must be approved by the boss, or else it is 1:1 TOIL (Time off in lieu, which you can take at a 1:1 ration. I.E.: if I decide that the weekend is a good time for server updates, I don’t need to ask for approval BUT my 2 hours of work only translate to 2 hours of paid time off elsewhere.)

Combine all this in one delightful batch and you get: a 10 minute call that results in 6 hours of banked time off.

Sounds like that was a call well worth taking!

I went right back to my video games, filled out my time sheet the week after, and said “I know it’s your day off, but” is implied consent for overtime. Minimum callout of 4 hours at 150% is 6 hours. Almost an entire day off with pay in exchange for a 10 minute call? ThankYouVeryMuch!

Bonus: guess who has two thumbs and has since then never been called on his day off?

This unionized guy!

(Hint: get unionized. Fight back.)

Let’s see what people had to say about this.

One person thought this story was awesome.

Another individual said it’s a good thing that they know their union rights.

Another person wishes there were more unions.

And this reader said their boss should know the rules!

Unions work, friends!

More of this, please!