Performance isn’t the only way employers measure the value of your work. For some, it’s more about bums in seats than outcomes.

As a business owner, I really don’t understand how you make money that way, but to each their own!

Here’s an example of an employer learning that it makes no sense to keep staff on the clock just for the sake of it, especially for overtime pay.

Boss demands overtime pay for zero work?? Okay!!

I used to work for a company where the boss had this habit of demanding that we stay late, even when there was absolutely no work left to be done. It was one of those toxic environments where productivity was measured by the hours you spent at your desk rather than the actual output of your work.

One day, after wrapping up all my tasks well before the end of the day, my boss came over and told me that I needed to stay late because “that’s just how things are done around here.” Mind you, there was literally nothing left for me to do.

I’d play Tetris, but the boss might think you’re working on my phone instead of doing this…

I decided to play along with his ridiculous demand for overtime pay.

I nodded, grabbed a book I had been meaning to read, and settled back into my chair. For the next two hours, I sat at my desk, flipping through pages, occasionally pretending to jot down notes, and looking as busy as possible.

At the end of those two hours, my boss came by to check on me, expecting to see me toiling away at some imaginary task. Instead, he found me reading a novel.

Stupid policies get stupid results. Case in point.

With a straight face, I replied, “Well, you asked me to stay late, so I figured I might as well put in some overtime. This book has been on my reading list for a while.”

Needless to say, my boss was speechless. He couldn’t really argue with me since he had asked me to stay late, and I was technically still on the clock.

His boss saves money and he has a better work/life balance. Win-win!

From that day forward, he never asked me to stay late unless there was actual work to be done. Malicious compliance at its finest.

What did people think of this stunt?

This commenter reminisced about his workless work.

Y2K hysteria was a waste of time, but at least it was fun for some people.

I salute you, gamer! Do a Rubik’s Cube next time.

Makes sense, but most folks want to think their employers are just silly billies.

Do you dare check out the browser history of people doing nothing for overtime pay?

Nope!

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.