While workplace safety rules are important, management has been known on more than one occasion to take it too far.

Such is the case in this story where a flawed safety glasses policy ends up costing the company thousands of dollars and getting one clever employee 10 weeks of paid vacation!

Read on for the full story.

Won’t let me work? OK.

A few years ago, at my place of employment, they decided to bring in a new safety glasses policy.

As I was a member of the safety committee, I was tasked with finding a company who could supply safety glasses that could fit our employees.

The employee had a very particular set of instructions.

And with a new criteria: it had to pass a pencil fit test.

By this I mean, a regular pencil should not be able to pass around any part of the glass to enter the eye area. A tight fit, as it were.

After some research, they had a promising lead.

I called around and found a company that was able to come out and provide us with a choice of 120 different models and styles to choose from.

This would allow us to fit everyone, from fat to thin faces, tall, slim faces, hawk shaped, big nosed, you name it, we would be able to get them fit.

I thought that it was in the bag, piece of cake, or any other platitude you can think of. I almost dislocated my arm patting myself on the back.

Naturally, management had other ideas.

Well, of course, management has to step in and say, “This doesn’t work for us.”

Their solution? Find a company that has only 6 different styles of glasses and make it work.

As I wear prescription lenses, theses new style glasses, were not designed for this. They only have inserts, which are clipped on inside.

The employee immediately knew this new direction from management would complicate their task.

Well, to make the glasses pencil fit, the glasses fit, the frames are curved to fit your face, hence, the insert is bent to fit the frame.

Now just imagine, taking your glasses, and bending them to sit tight to your face. See how this distorts your vision!

Now cue malicious compliance.

So they refused to make it easy for management.

I reported to my boss that I could not wear the new glasses as they distorted my vision and gave me headaches.

Their solution was to have me try each model of glasses one at a time, and get lenses made for them to see if I could find one that would work.

Knowing that no matter what they did, wearing curved frames would not work, every time I got new lenses made, I made sure that they were high index, UV resistant, tinted, scratch resistant and the best money could buy.

The employee spared no expense in their quest for malicious compliance.

I bought lenses for all 6 frame types at a cost of just over $7,000.

At the end of this, I went to see my eye specialist, and he wrote me a letter stating that I am not able to wear the new style glasses as they would damage my eyes.

I took this letter into work and showed it to my boss. They didn’t know what to do with me.

Their plan worked out even better than they anticipated.

I showed up for work every day, dressed and ready to work, but they never assigned me any work, as it would be too dangerous, even though I had worn my old safety glasses for the last 25 years, suddenly it’s to dangerous.

So, they had me just sitting in the lunch room.

I would play games on the computer, I was going to night school, so I completed a semester of school, and basically just screwed around.

But something this good couldn’t last.

One day, I was playing video games, and our number 2 big boss walked in and saw me, I said good morning, with a big smile and a wave, he didn’t.

A couple of days later, our number 1 boss walked in while I was reading the newspaper, and he asked me what I was doing, and I said “reading the paper.”

He said, “why?” I said, “they told me it’s to dangerous out there for me.”

The next day I was back at work!

10 1/2 weeks I was off, and suddenly the policy was changed!

At least this employee got some paid time off out of this.

What did Reddit have to say?

Management will be management.

This user has some follow-up questions.

This commenter scratches their head at management’s logic.

Maybe safety and glasses just don’t mix.

Sometimes the cost of rigidity is higher than the cost off flexibility.

After a clear lesson from their employee, management was finally seeing things clearly.

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.