Working events means running on a tight schedule, so the worst thing a manager can do is get in the way of that.

One technician learned this firsthand when his micromanaging boss routinely cancelled his breaks and piled on pointless busy work.

So when a big inspection day came, the technician deemed it the perfect time for a little malicious compliance.

Keep reading for the full story.

“Boss” makes me rush my work, so I have other plans…

I used to work for a holiday company a few years ago — alright company, but the management team I was working for left something to be desired.

I worked in entertainment, but in a technical role. Essentially I was in charge of lighting and sound for a midsize (up to 2,000 people) venue.

The volume of work was starting to get overwhelming for this technician.

Most of the year it was a one-person job, with a few bits of help from the other entertainment staff, but there was one point in the year that was really challenging.

The company I worked with produced 3 “finale” event weekends, where competitions that were run over the course of the year on multiple sites would have their grand finals, a big celebration, etc. — and were generally a great excuse for us to have a few drinks after a lot of chaos.

The technician describes how the shift usually went.

The usual routine was that a few staff from other sites would come to us, help with the prep, and run the weekend with us.

I would normally get a couple of people to help me set up the tech that was coming in, as the budgets were huge and the demands were ridiculous.

This particular year my manager took a leave of absence and I was left with the assistant manager (AM).

This was definitely the worst case scenario.

He was, for want of a better phrase… lacking… in the management department and was desperately trying to prove himself to be either the boss or manly.

Personally I think that because his job was singing and dancing, he took every chance he could to show he was a man.

Most dancers I know don’t do this, but he was a special case.

Now my job was the closest thing to manly in the department — think rigging, lifting things, technically heavy, etc. — so I was a target of his quite a few times.

Then the boss decides to cut staffing even further.

Anyway, just before this all kicks off, he tells me that he’s not giving me anyone to help me set up this year.

Not much I can do about this, so I realize I’ve basically got the work of 3 people to do within a week, with no room for error.

So I spend about 20 minutes in our shared office working out a schedule for myself, so that I had enough time to do everything.

It meant that I was working stupid hours, but it left me with time for food breaks, etc. — and I was young, so I thought, who cares!

There was one task in particular that proved the most difficult.

Now, if you’ve ever done any kind of theatre or events work, you’ll know that one of the toughest things to do is find time to work on stage while people want to rehearse.

I’d even factored this in, but this meant that I was taking breaks while the casts were rehearsing.

So the technician decided to buckle down and build out the best schedule he could.

I’d worked out my schedule with the choreographers in mind so that every day bar one, I would take my breaks differently to the dancers so I could work on stage when they weren’t there.

That one day I was taking my break at the same time was Wednesday.

So Wednesday comes and I’m well ahead of schedule.

But still, this isn’t enough for the terrible boss.

My AM walks up to me and lets me know that he thinks I’m behind.

I explain that I’m not — in fact I’m far ahead and things were going well.

He “disagrees” and tells me that he needs me to work through my dinner break on stage, and that I would get some time later when he and the dancers were rehearsing.

He tried to fight back against these unreasonable expectations, to no avail.

He wanted me to do something about lighting, I think, but with the majority of the equipment I had hired not coming until the next day, it was pointless me doing anything that break.

I tried to explain that I had plans for my break, but it didn’t matter.

He put his foot down and was adamant I worked as long as I could.

The boss didn’t seem to care that his break was now practically nonexistent.

When I brought up the whole “not having a break in 6 hours” thing, he claimed that he would give me a break when the dancers returned in an hour or so — but until they started rehearsing, I was to continue working.

I was young and slightly intimidated, so I felt I didn’t have a choice.

Reluctantly, I agreed.

Eventually, though, this started to weigh on the technician’s mental health.

I was mad as heck, tired and hungry, and had been working my butt off to get this event ready on my own.

I set myself up doing pyro instead, as it was a job I was going to do Friday as the last job — and it wasn’t what he asked me to do, so it was a little passive-aggressive victory for me.

I watched the clock as his and the dancers’ 1-hour break turned into a 2½-hour break.

I’d done my work (it’s amazing how motivated you can be when you’re angry) and was waiting for them to arrive.

So just as the technician is about to take a well-deserved break, the boss walks in once again making even more demands.

I was about to head out for food myself when he saunters in and asks where I’m going.

When I tell him that I’m done with the jobs I can do on stage and I’m getting food, he stopped me and demanded that I stay for his rehearsal to operate the music for him.

This time, the technician wasn’t going to play along.

I was furious, tired, annoyed — and frankly lost for words.

I walked out, got some food, took 20 minutes for myself, and came back to a tirade from him.

Words cannot describe how useless this guy was.

So finally, the technician sets the stage for his malicious compliance.

Anyway, flash forward to the Friday and my act of malicious compliance.

I completed my work early on Thursday and so was ready to go. I was already ahead, and my extra time on Wednesday really helped.

He had insisted that I was there at 9AM that day ready to go — and I was.

For a while, the technician just sat around and waited.

So I sat in the office for a while, grabbed a snack or two, and waited for someone else to come in.

No one else did for another hour. He’d given the rest of the department an extra lie-in but hadn’t told me.

Fine. Not an issue.

He eventually wanders in, asks what I’m up to, and I give him a vague answer.

So that’s when things really started to happen.

And here is where the malicious compliance comes in.

He insisted that I stay around all day to get ready for the opening evening. I wasn’t allowed to leave site, and he expected me to be either working on the events or in the office.

The boss sets rules around his break.

When I asked about when I could have lunch (so I could plan my time), he told me he would tell me when — and only if all the work was done.

The head of entertainment and the head of the business were coming around that afternoon, so he wanted to make a good impression.

I didn’t comment, but made a plan.

After doing my general safety checks and making sure everything was working as it should be — a grand total of 30 minutes’ work — I sat in my office chair, grabbed his newspaper, and read it.

And that’s exactly where the technician stayed.

Over and over.

I purposely sat in my chair doing sod all.

He didn’t specify what I was meant to be doing in the office, so I took it as a time to relax and watch a bit of Sky TV.

He doesn’t notice me for about 3 hours, as he’s running around trying to do his job and the bits he forgot — that was until he heard the management team were on their way.

Eventually, the boss catches on.

He comes over asking what I’m up to.

I tell him that I’m doing as he asked — staying in the office.

He told me to get the venue ready or be in the office… so that’s what I’m doing.

Finally, the boss starts to realize what’s happening.

Starting to panic, he told me to go and do something for the events — to essentially look busy.

It went something like this:

“Have you done the lights?…”

“Yep.”

“What about…”

“I’ve got nothing to do. Really, nothing… I’ve been ahead of schedule all week.”

The boss can’t understand how this is possible.

“But how?”

“Remember that evening you told me to work when I didn’t need to? Well, the work I was going to do now I did then… so I have nothing to do now.”

“Bob (head of entertainment) is on their way down now, so you need to make sure you’re doing something.”

“OK, will do.”

The technician continues to enjoy his well-deserved victory.

I put his paper down and started neatening my desk and filling out my timesheet.

You know that kind of “busywork” where you look like you’re doing something — but moments later I was back watching TV.

If he wants me to be in the office doing something, I will do just that.

He didn’t specify what…

What a terrible boss.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

This commenter revels in the fact that justice is finally served.

Each industry tends to come with its own unique struggles.

Good workers can be hard to find.

This horrible boss more than deserved what he had comin’ to him.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.