If there is one thing people don’t play out, it’s when they clock out. I recently started a corporate job, and while they’re pretty flexible on hours, the second the clock strikes 5 it’s a mass exodus!

Even when I was a server, people would power through their sidework, even if they ended up having to redo it, during the shift just to get out as early as they possible could!

But when this user was tried to do her closing work during her shift,  So she refused to start until her shift ended, and made sure the boss had to do most of it!

Check it out!

Not until 4:01 malicious compliance

I work in a place that has a queue taking incoming calls until 4pm. It’s generally always busy, always understaffed but that’s the nature of the beast.

I work the “closing shift” where you generally come in at a later time and stay later.

So a few years back I used to work extra hard trying to get my ‘end of work’ duties done early between calls in order to leave early right when we shut down.

Manager was totally on board with this, sometimes I’d be done by 4:10 sometimes 4:45. Didn’t matter, I left when my work was done and rarely had to stay to my full 5pm.

But OP’s good luck ran out when she had someone new to report to, someone who was far less tolerant….

Enter the supervisor, person right under Manager and the person who complains about having never enough time to do her job.

Meanwhile she spends 60% of said time out of her seat gossiping with other coworkers. Okay not my circus, not my monkeys.

I ignore it and proceed to keep at my habit of working my butt off to get done early.

This usually meant multitasking between calls and adding extra stress to work off a sheet for another aspect of our job.

Despite OP’s successful record, the supervisor still found something to nitpick…

This goes well for years until supervisor starts wondering why calls aren’t retrieved from voicemail after hours.

Nevermind that its my job to get them the next morning, which I always do. Eventually I decide okay…

I’ll stop working double when the queue is active and save that work for 4:01 since that would make her feel better. No problem.

But if her manager wanted to focus on the calls until she closed, then she was going to FOCUS!

I refuse to do anything BUT answer calls cause that’s my immediate priority.

Fast forward months later and supervisor is constantly asking people to “help on the list between calls”.

Nope. Not until 4:01 ma’am. Meanwhile the ACTUAL manager, the one in charge is happy as a clam with super high productivity.

After all I am focusing on calls only until 4:01 at which time then I will start my closing duties and not a minute before.

I mean, that’s what the manager wanted right? Who did she think was doing all the closing work each day, the cleaning fairy?

Reddit was not up on the call center lingo, but this user came in to save everyone’s bacon.

But even with the clarification, the grammar police still got to OP!

And finally, this user said that OP’s compliance wasn’t malicious, and actually made her call center a better place to work!

I’m going to do my job more effectively, but only out of spite…

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.