this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
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Malicious Compliance
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Our boss was freaking out over people sometimes doing some private calls during work hours and at a certain point absolutely forbade it. So yeah, people would just end the call at 17:00 sharp and switch off the work phone. It took one week before that rule was rescinded.
This reminds me of a work-to-rule or a "White Strike." It turns out that every company, even those that supposedly operate off of "unskilled" labor, utterly rely on employees making a ton of judgment calls and often working outside their job description. When employees start working to the letter of their job description, the whole operation quickly grinds to a halt.
"Other duties as assigned" is a bitch.
This is when "could you please send that request on writing via e-mail" becomes really useful.
That's what gets struck in a white strike.
If it's literally in your job description, as it has been in my last several positions, does it qualify?
You make them assign the task to you, don't just do it because it's necessary. Each task that is not part of your actual assigned job needs to be assigned to you. Every time. If they want you to do it every time it's needed, ask for them to update your job description to reflect it.
It's called a white strike because you are burying them in paperwork, but not walking off the job.
My listed job duties are infinitely vague and I'm responsible for everything.
Bonus, you can ask for clarification on everything.
Okay, you've assigned me a duty. Give me exact, and I mean exact, instructions about how to complete it.
Now repeat for the thousands of tiny tasks everyone just does on their own.
A white strike, like all strikes works because of collective action, not because of some tricky technically lol.
If everyone does it then it works.
Sure. It means they can ask you to do other things that aren't explicitly written in the original job description. But every time they tell you to do something beyond it, you just start doing THAT exactly to the letter of the request.
Here we call it "standard operation" and it's also a kind of "white strike"
Same in Brazil. It’s a most effective form of strike - you still get paid, the company still hemorrhages money. Another common one among public transit is when bus drivers still go around their route but don’t collect payment.
And that's ridiculous on general because you know who also does regular work hours? Everyone else!
That means if you need a call with your doctor, bank, whatever, it's likely gonna be during the workday
Teamwork makes the dream work.
God, I hate how often my CEO says this
Sounds like he's a fan of unions. Take him up on it.