Some jobs make it feel like doing the right thing just gets you in trouble.

So, what would you do if showing up early to help your team got you punished for being “too efficient?” Would you keep doing the right thing, no matter the outcome? Or would you follow orders and watch the chaos unfold?

In today’s story, one bank teller finds himself in this situation and gives them what they ask for. Here’s what happened.

Clocking in too early? No problem, I’ll show up later then.

I used to work at a bank as a teller. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was easy and convenient, as I lived a hop, skip, and a jump away – a five-minute walk – and you could see the bank from my house.

As such, I was almost always one of (if not the) first person there.

We were expected to arrive by 7:15 to open at 7:30 am, but the managers tried to get there early so we had time to set up, such as logging in, filling drawers, and holding a morning meeting, that type of thing.

Arriving early became a problem.

When opening for the day, you need at least 2 people for safety reasons, so one of whom was usually me. I was frequently arriving around 7, so the manager could unlock and we could set up

I had been clocking in after getting inside, which I guess was starting to add up, combined with the number of times we had to stay past closing.

I was told that there’s only a “6 minute grace period” for clocking in early or late, that I had clocked in early too many times, and that about two weeks of my punches would be adjusted

From then on, he showed up right on time.

I said, “Okay. Is this you specifically telling me to stop showing up early?”

They said, “Yes, it is.”

So I showed up at 7:20 every day. I stopped being there early, I stopped helping set up, and I even took advantage of the grace period to be about 5 minutes late every day to make sure I didn’t get stuck helping set anything up.

It sucked and it didnt work for anyone, we were frantic trying to open every nearly morning as most other employees didnt care about procedures, just their own drawers

The manager finally started noticing things not getting done.

A few weeks later, a manager asked if I could come in earlier than usual to help with the alarm tests. They were supposed to be done once a month, and for almost a year, I was the one who did them with the opening manager.

Apparently, the test was supposed to get done that morning, but the other employee didn’t show up early enough to start before we opened for the day.

Sure, no problem. I was in by 7 the next morning, and clocked in.

It’s sad that we live in a world where trying to be efficient is seen as trying to game the system

Wow! People never realize what they have until it’s gone.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit have to say about this situation.

According to this reader, they probably want people to work for free.

This person thinks it was some auditor who suggested the change.

Here’s a similar situation.

As this person points out, the company cannot adjust your paycheck after the fact.

He needs a new job!

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.