Have you ever encountered a boss who suddenly changed an office policy even though the previous policy wasn’t problematic at all?

This man talks about a manager who wanted to promote “workplace discipline” where employees should strictly abide by their work hours—no more, no less.

So he and everyone else complied… but it didn’t work out the way the manager expected.

Read the story below for all the details.

You Want Me to Work My Exact Hours? Okay, No Problem!

A few years ago, my manager decided to crack down on “workplace discipline.”

His first rule? Everyone had to work their exact scheduled hours.

No more, No less.

If your shift was 9:00 to 5:00, you couldn’t start a minute early or leave a minute late.

This man obeyed the new rule.

Now, I’m the kind of person who likes to finish what I’m working on. Even if it means staying a little past my shift.

But fine, rules are rules.

At 5:00 sharp, I started dropping everything.

He’d stop it at exactly 5:00 pm no matter what.

Middle of a call with a client?

“Sorry, it’s 5:00. Let’s pick this up tomorrow.”

Writing an email?

Draft saved, computer shut down.

Chaos started to erupt in the workplace.

My coworkers followed suit.

Soon, the office was a ghost town at exactly 5:01 every day.

It didn’t take long for chaos to erupt.

Deadlines got missed, calls were dropped, and clients weren’t happy.

So, management had to retract the rule.

Management started to notice.

After about two weeks, the rule magically disappeared and we were told, “Just do what you need to get the job done.”

Funny how quickly things change when you follow orders too perfectly.

Yes, sometimes rules don’t work in every situation. It’s great that management got the point of quickly.

Let’s read the reactions of other people on Reddit.

This person shares their personal thoughts.

Another insightful comment from this person.

This person is thankful for having flexible work hours.

Exactly! Here’s a valid point.

Finally, a short but sensible remark.

Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.