Micromanagers can only push their subordinates so far before things begin to backfire spectacularly.

When team leaders started cracking down on employee breaks to the bathroom and break room, the employees decided to take the new rules very literally.

The chaos that followed was pure poetic justice.

Keep reading for the full story!

You accuse us of time theft and being unproductive? Then look forward to an inbox full of unnecessary reports.

I work in premium customer service at a bank, where we serve the bank’s higher-value customers.

This usually gave us more freedom because, unlike in traditional customer service, the focus is more on quality than quantity.

However, since regular customer service team leaders took over the project, our freedoms have become more restricted.

The managers suddenly didn’t seem to trust their employees at all.

We were accused of time theft because we didn’t log out for two minutes to go to the bathroom.

All of a sudden, we had to report whenever we were not productive.

Many of us were threatened with warnings that could lead to us losing our jobs.

Even if we just needed to talk to other colleagues about a customer case, we had to let them know — otherwise, we could be accused of unproductive behavior.

So the employees decided to fight back with gusto.

And well, we complied. A little too ambitious.

Every time we went to the bathroom, we reported it to our project managers by email.

Every time we went to get a drink, we reported it.

Every time we took a break, we reported it.

Every time we talked to a colleague about a customer case, each of the two colleagues reported it separately to the project managers by email.

Every time we left our computers — no matter what for — we reported it by email to the project managers’ mailbox.

Now the managers are starting to second-guess things.

After a while, the project managers’ mailbox was so full that even important emails were overlooked because there were too many of them.

The project managers were completely overwhelmed.

And shortly afterwards, the rules were abolished again.

Management should have just left well enough alone.

What did Reddit think?

Managers really ought to be better attuned to the employees who actually get the work done.

Sometimes malicious compliance is the best way to get your managers to snap out of it.

This commenter has some thoughts on managers like this.

Malicious compliance is even better in a group!

Corporate overreach never ends well—especially when it messes with people who know how to play the game.

In the end, the managers got exactly what they asked for—and a whole lot more.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.