'Want to demand employees come early without pay and stay at their desks all shift? You got it.' UPDATED

"Want to demand employees come in early without pay and stay strapped to their desks until the clock strikes time off? You got it."

I work in a demanding industry. As a result, barely anyone in my department takes their unpaid 1-hour lunch break in full or at all, including myself. Most everyone just eats at their desk while working, including me. A lot of people work unpaid overtime as well, including me (for me, it was about 1-2 hours this week on my day off unpaid overtime to get on top of the work).

The manager/boss know this happens - they see it occur on a daily basis, but don't contest it because, you know, free labour. Recently, the boss sent around an office-wide email "for a select few" that stated, "work hours are work hours". The email said they expect everyone to be at work 10-15 (unpaid) minutes early to "get a coffee" and start work on the dot.

They also said that the end of your work shift is when you stop working and that you can't pack up anything prior ie. If you have a cup on your desk, you have to wait until your work ends on the dot to put it in the dishwasher. Doing this 2-minute task prior to the end of your shift is not acceptable. There was more to the email, but it's not relevant to this post.

I'm certain this email is partially directed at me, because I arrive to work only a few minutes early, grab a cup of tea (takes 1 minute - they have instant hot water) and then start working. I also asked to leave 10-minutes early last week (use 10-minutes of my unpaid break) to attend an appointment, which was met with discontent from my manager. Cue this week and the email that followed.

Now, this would be a reasonable policy if there was any form of wage theft (Edit: wrong term; should be time theft, not wage theft) happening, but it's the complete opposite.

They are well aware that their employees are working through their lunch breaks and working over time to stay on top of the high workload and essentially providing them with free labour. Therefore, demanding employees come in early and remain strapped to their desks until the clock strikes at the end of the workday is not a reasonable policy.

It's just demeaning and glossing over the fact that they are getting free labour on a daily basis from dedicated employees. So today, as a response to this email, I took my full 1-hour break for the first time in literally months. I sat in the break room on my phone for 1-hour. This resulted in the manager walking past, seeing me doing this, and looking very unimpressed.

They're used to seeing me sitting in my office, working in between bites of food as a break. They walked past a second time while I was still in the break room, this time completely avoiding my gaze. Having maliciously complied today, I've decided what to do moving forward to continue this malicious compliance.

From now on, I will come into work 5 minutes early and sit at my desk on my phone until my phone alarm signals that it's time to start working. I will take my unpaid break for the full 1-hour during the day rather than sit at my desk working through this unpaid time. In a month, when they are used to me taking my full unpaid break.

I will work through the day and take my 1-hour unpaid break exactly 1-hour before the end of my work day, meaning I will not return to the office after my break because my work day has ended (there is nothing in our contract that dictates when we can or can't take our break).

I have and will continue to maliciously comply, denying them the free labour they took for granted and fully utilising my unpaid personal time.

Here's what people had to say to OP:

[deleted] wrote:

You should check that last part. In some places, it is literally illegal to take your breaks at the beginning or end of your shift, and employers are liable for it and can also write up employees doing it on their own. This is to avoid employers forcing 12-hour shifts without breaks by calling them 13-hour shifts. IANAL and it varies by jurisdiction, but it's something to look out for.

OP responded:

I asked HR if there is any policy or part of our contract dictating when we can or can't take our breaks. They confirmed there's not. Technically, legally, I'm supposed to take a minimum of a 30-minute break after 5 hrs of work. We're allotted an hour break.

So if they question me taking the full 1-hour at the end of the day (7.5 hours work in the day excluding the break time), my next question will be if there is anything in our contract that says we can or can't split the 1 hour break into 2 x 30 minute breaks. If there's not, I'll take my legally required 30 minutes in the middle of the day after 5 hours work, and my additional 30 minutes prior to the end of my work hours.

If questioned again and denied being able to do this, I'll request to decrease my unpaid break to the minimum requirement of 30 minutes, meaning they have to pay me the extra 30 minutes, and I'll take that 30 mins break after 5-hours of work every day. Malicious compliance.

The_Truthkeeper wrote:

"Now, this would be a reasonable policy if there was any form of wage theft happening, but it's the complete opposite."

No, you've described in great detail that there is absolutely wage theft happening.

OP responded:

Suppose I should have clarified "wage theft from the employees" to be specific.

Merswhaawhaa wrote:

Make sure you get there 10-15 minutes before work starts as they have requested or they may stir the pot there. But get a little sign that says out to lunch when you go on your lunch breaks - basically cover your butt.

Bonus points if you can get the rest of the office doing the same.

OP responded:

I definitely want that sign. Or a "Gone Fishing" sign.

Jauncin wrote:

If you have it in writing that they tell you you have to be there 15 minutes early - then you have proof that they need to be paying you for those 15 minutes.

OP responded:

They said, "we expect employees to be 10-15 minutes early," rather than, "employees are required to be 10-15 minutes early." So that kind of puts a spanner in the works.

your_beast_of_ burden wrote:

I don’t understand the working through your breaks and taking unpaid overtime. It’s such a weird flex that people make about their work ethic. When in reality it’s just unhealthy practice and allowing your company to take advantage and get richer on your labor.

The breaks are a necessary break from work, take them proudly. There has been research regarding them being better for your mental health and productivity over time. As for the overtime, if the work is that important to get completed then you should clock in and get paid.

OP responded:

There's no clicking in or out. It's salaried work with no clocking of time.

kk_lawm wrote:

Just want you to know: you're part of the problem. Why are you surprised your managers don't respect you when you don't respect yourself?

You and the other people in the office combined with unpaid overtime and working through break are probably saving the company at least another entire person's salary they should be hiring. So you've overworked yourself, denied someone else a job in a society chronically underemployed and made your boss rich.

Not a great start. Not even malicious compliance, what you're doing now is the minimum for self-respect. I'm glad plenty of people find this post compelling. But this malicious compliance is a more long overdue rebellion against being another man's property. Don't go back to working for free.

jaymiracles wrote:

Be sure to do these two things:

Get some of your close colleagues on the same train to make this a trend in the company.

Updates us whenever something new happens or after you switch your break to the last hour/ I like this kind of post.

OP made sure to jump on with an update:

I did start taking my lunch breaks in full. It wasn't looked kindly upon, but no one could say anything about it. I think taking my lunch breaks made the head of my department start to target me even more.

They had left the office midday one day to attend a personal appointment (which is exactly what I was chastised for, mind you - my appointment just happened to be at the end of the day), so I asked the boss of the company for instructions on what to do about a certain issue.

We've been told to refer to the boss if head of department is unavailable. So, I did exactly that, and I followed the boss' instructions for this issue. My head of department got mad at me a week or two later for doing this, and said that I'm only to go to them about certain things like this. I said, but you weren't here. They said, I'm almost always here, so just send me an email about it.

They did this with a nasty undertone in their voice in front of my coworkers. It actually made me cry (secretly, didn't do it in front of anyone of course). I had done everything I was told to do. I was coming in 15 minutes early etc.

They had targeted me for attending an appointment/ getting a cup of tea at the start of the day, which already upset me, then they targeted me again for rightfully seeking instructions from our boss when head of department was attending a personal appointment. The next day I came into work 15 minutes early (again) and closed my office door.

When there was 5 minutes until the start of the work day, I heard the head of my department talking to my coworkers about how I wasn't in the office early, but then someone mentioned I was in but that my door was closed, showing they're keeping tabs on me specifically.

At the moment, both boss and head of department are on annual leave for 2 weeks. Plus another staff member is on annual leave as well. And other staff members have caught covid and isolating. We are utterly understaffed with no leader in the office. I'm still taking my full lunch break and leaving on the dot. I'm tired of this entire rigmarole.

Here's what people had to say to OP's update:

Stabbmaster wrote:

Start getting every mandate and procedural change that isn't explicitly in the manual in writing. Otherwise, you can also play the whole "I don't recall seeing that email, can you send it to me with the exact instructions you want executed" card. After all, if you didn't get it in writing, no one can say it actually occurred.

OP responded:

I'm sending all of the "in writing" instruction emails to my personal email, so I'll always have a copy regardless.

-Raanag wrote:

I hope you have it in writing to only report to them and if not available, write a mail only to them? If so, hope you can write them lots of mail when they are on vacation...

OP responded:

I sent an email to HR saying that I was being unfairly targeted by a coworker and that if it continued, I would come to them with an official complaint.

Kindcryptohater wrote:

It would probably go better if you make it a trend in your office, instead of being the only one. Do you get along well with your colleagues? You could tell them about your malicious compliance and have a whole set of people relaxed having lunch everyday.

OP responded:

They always say they're "too busy to have lunch."

JanuarySoCold wrote:

Can you email your bosses while they are on leave? Just to ask questions and to have a record of what you should be doing while they are away? You can always point to the understaffing as to why you must contact them.

OP responded:

Not really, no. They have other people monitoring their emails.