March 20, 2026 at 11:49 am

Employee Agreed To Open And Close Doors Before And After Work, So The Overtime Has Really Added Up

by Jayne Elliott

man smiling as he opens office door

Shutterstock/Reddit

During the pandemic, we were all on high alert about germs, and that caused a lot of people to be more cautious about where they went, who they interacted with, and what they touched.

In this story, instead of relying on hand sanitizer, one company thought a good way to prevent the spread of germs was to designate one person to open and close all of the doors before and after work.

Keep reading to see how that has worked out for the person who was forced to take on this extra task.

Forced overtime is costing them a LOT

At the beginning of the pandemic. Corporate asked us to open all the offices doors (+200 doors) in the morning and close them at night so people wouldn’t have to touch door knobs.

Obviously, nobody wanted to come in one hour early and leave one hour later every day.

They pretty much forced me to do it.

But there was one condition.

I said I would of they paid me the overtime.

They accepted. Probably thinking this would be over in 2-3 months.

Fast forward 15 months later. I just did the math and it costed them over 20k so far.

I think I’ll just continue to do it until someone tells me to stop.

Wow! That worked out really well for OP! That’s a lot of extra income just for opening and closing doors everyday!

Let’s see what Reddit has to say about this situation.

This person thinks the corporation actually made a good decision.

Screenshot 2026 02 23 at 9.59.02 AM Employee Agreed To Open And Close Doors Before And After Work, So The Overtime Has Really Added Up

Another person likes the story but doesn’t think it’s malicious.

Screenshot 2026 02 23 at 9.59.32 AM Employee Agreed To Open And Close Doors Before And After Work, So The Overtime Has Really Added Up

Here’s how another company handles keeping the office clean.

Screenshot 2026 02 23 at 10.00.13 AM Employee Agreed To Open And Close Doors Before And After Work, So The Overtime Has Really Added Up

Another person puts it in perspective.

Screenshot 2026 02 23 at 10.00.40 AM Employee Agreed To Open And Close Doors Before And After Work, So The Overtime Has Really Added Up

It’s an easy job but an arguably important one.

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.