Strict work policies can be a good thing if they keep you and others safe, ensure you are treated fairly or something like that.

But not all policies make sense.

See how this worker handled this one.

Must check my work email every single day? Ok!

I was working for a small private ambulance company that ended up getting bought out by a larger corporation.

Corporate sends out a directive that all employees must check their work email at least once every 24 hours.

No exceptions!

It went as well as you can imagine…

I’m a lowly part-timer, so it would occasionally be weeks in between my shifts.

The fun part is, I usually played Field Supervisor on my shifts I did work.

So in order to be in compliance with the corporate directive, I set my work email to update every day at the same time on my phone.

I would then log my 15 minutes of email checking on my paycheck, so I would also be in compliance with state and federal payroll laws.

I also made sure to inform as many employees to do the same.

Didn’t check your email while you were on shift because you were too busy trying to figure out what made grandma’s ambulance ride to the doctor medically necessary?

That’s ok. Just check it when you get home.

Then the policy falls apart.

Make sure you put it on your timesheet, though!

It took a couple pay cycles, but eventually I get a call (on my day off), asking why I’m logging 1.75 hours on weeks that I didn’t even work.

I explained that I was just following their corporate directive.

I was told at that point that I no longer was able to log those hours.

I told them to give me that in writing as that goes against labor laws.

Needless to say, the directive to check email every day got revoked.

Oh, but I did put down 30 minutes on my timesheet for the call as it took 22 minutes.

Here is what folks are saying.

Absolutely! End of!

A Goodfellas reference? Cool!

I wouldn’t go that far…

Definitely. Always cover yourself.

Mine, too!

Stop treat unsalaried people like they are salaried.

It’s just wrong.

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.