Malicious Compliance

[NOT OC - repost]

This one is based on an experience my wife had at a previous job (around 12 years ago).

My wife (GF at the time) worked for a small IT recruitment company as a recruiter. The offices were quite small, situated on the first floor of an office block with no balcony or kitchen, or any place to really take a proper lunch break. So, my wife just sat at her desk during her allocated tea and lunch breaks and browsed her phone (her PC was locked from accessing any websites such as FB and such).

She found out that she was reported several times for being on her phone at her desk (something that was not allowed while working), but argued that she was on her lunch break and that she was not working and could be on her phone. She was then told that she cannot be on her phone at her desk as her colleagues can't know that she's on a break. She argued that there is nowhere to go for breaks, except for downstairs, and outside, a place where the smokers take regular breaks. But, nope, she was not allowed on her phone at her desk.

So, from that day on, whenever the group of smokers took a break, she would go downstairs and stand with them, browse her phone, and come up with them. This meant that she took breaks as frequently as the smokers did, and she was away from her desk far more than she was taking her previous breaks for.

It's small, but she felt a little victory inside. Luckily she didn't stay in that job long.