Sometimes following the rules to the letter is the best way to show how badly they were written.

So when a constantly traveling employee was forced to give up his car and use the train to get to work, his boss assumed it would only be a minor adjustment.

But when the boss was forced to pay for a commute time that took three times as long, he quickly changed his tune.

Keep reading for the full story!

Take the train? Sure thing boss

One day I was told by my manager that I was going to be working in a single location for an extended period and therefore had to give up the car.

This wasn’t my home office, so I’d be reimbursed for travel costs and, crucially, any time spent travelling over the normal commute going to your home office would be considered time spent at work.

The employee was willing to roll with this, but when they asked for a parking spot, things hit a snag.

Hey, no problem, happy with this, so I asked my boss for a parking spot for my own car as spaces were limited, there was no other parking nearby, and most importantly, there were no public transport links between my home and office location, so it would take a long while to get in.

The boss suggests an alternative that this employee immediately knows isn’t going to work, but regardless, they go along with it.

“Sorry OP, no can do, just take the train, we’ll give you the tickets.”

Okay dokie, boss, if you’re sure.

So, making sure I took my book and headphones, I took the train as instructed.

This took much longer than just driving.

Three separate trains later and I arrive into the office just before lunch.

Boss was horrified but couldn’t say anything when I showed the route I had to take.

The employee pretty much ended up spending the entire day commuting!

Their face was a picture when I told them I would have to leave shortly as it was the same journey home.

And all the boss could do was sulk and pay up.

I was paid for nearly a full working day on the train reading my book and my boss couldn’t do anything about it.

Needless to say, I got the car back the next day and a space to go along with it.

Guess this boss should have just listened to their employee the first time around.

What did Reddit think?

This employee could have pushed this malicious compliance even further.

There’s definitely more going on behind the scenes here.

Public transport often requires a lot more travel time.

This boss soon learned a valuable lesson.

Cutting corners can end up costing you big.

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.