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Employee Is Told To Have Their Meals Only During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply And End Up Doing Less Work
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Employee Is Told To Have Their Meals Only During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply And End Up Doing Less Work

Employee Is Told To Eat Only During Assigned Time Periods To Have Their Food Expenses Covered, They Maliciously Comply And Have To Work Less NowEmployee Is Told To Have Their Meals Only During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply And End Up Doing Less WorkCompany Demands Employee Eats During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply, End Up Doing Less WorkNew Representative Reimburses Food Expenses Only If Eaten In Certain Time Periods, Worker Maliciously Complies And Rejects Calls To Follow The ScheduleSuperiors Order Employee To Have Their Meals During Assigned Time Frame, They Maliciously Comply, End Up Doing Less WorkEmployee Is Told To Have Their Meals Only During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply And End Up Doing Less WorkEmployee Is Told To Have Their Meals Only During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply And End Up Doing Less WorkEmployee Is Told To Have Their Meals Only During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply And End Up Doing Less WorkEmployee Is Told To Have Their Meals Only During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply And End Up Doing Less WorkEmployee Is Told To Have Their Meals Only During Assigned Time Periods, They Maliciously Comply And End Up Doing Less Work
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Corporate rules and policies are a great thing that really allow businesses to simplify many processes, facilitate the integration of new employees, make many things clear… This list can be continued for a long time, but on one condition – if corporate rules are not abused to the detriment of common sense.

Unfortunately, it often happens that people put the rules above elementary logic, without delving into each specific situation. And then literal compliance with the rules begins to harm the company, and employees who are forced to obey the requirements of corporate policy become less productive.

A great example of such a situation is this Reddit Malicious Compliance post, which in just a few days collected almost 15K upvotes and over 600 different comments, with many people giving similar stories from their own experience – so the Original Poster is far from alone with their tale.

More info: Reddit

The Original Poster has to travel a lot for work and the company gives them $35 a day for food expenses

Image source: slgckgc (not the actual photo)

So the Original Poster is paid a total of $35 per day for food while traveling, and they have to buy food separately for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Under corporate policy, the OP is also required to buy food strictly at designated time periods – that is, for breakfast from 8 to 10am, for lunch from 12 to 2pm, and for dinner – from 5 to 7pm.

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Image source: welcomenal

The OP used to have their meals not exactly within assigned time frames due to work calls from various time zones

Of course, it was not always possible for the OP to eat at these particular times, because they often had to call people from different time zones for work. Thus, in order not to harm the work process, they sometimes ate at other times – and the employee who approved the expenses never found fault, because she understood everything properly. But recently, according to the OP, she was replaced.

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Image source: welcomenal

The new person responsible for covering food expenses rejected the OP’s payment made at the “wrong” time

That day, the superiors only paid the travel expenses for the cheapest flight, so the OP had to leave their home at 3am. They stopped to grab coffee and a bagel around 5am. What surprised the OP was when the new person responsible for covering food expenses rejected the payment, stating that money should be spent only within the specified time frame.

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Image source: welcomenal

The OP maliciously complied and started fulfilling all the new demands, though their productivity decreased

The OP admits that they worked more than once during their own lunch, but now they just have to reject work calls – simply because they are having breakfast or lunch. As a result, their productivity has decreased, but they’ve been strictly following corporate policies. Moreover, they started to leave at 5pm, because dinner also cannot be missed.

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Image source: Alan Levine (not the actual photo)

Moreover, if the OP could not spend the entire amount for food expenses before, now they are specifically trying to spend exactly all the $35. The OP ironically adds that they should be healthy and not skip meals. By the way, coincidentally, hungry homeless people also enjoy their meal periods.

People in the comments told the OP that their company probably underpays them for food expenses

We must say that people in the comments supported the Original Poster and actively shared their own similar stories. However, commenters believe that the OP should report this situation to their higher-ups so that they can return to the previous conditions with increased productivity again.

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Incidentally, many commenters have also pointed out that the $35 a day that the OP is given from their company is quite a small amount, and many other employers give, for example, $30 for just one meal. Furthermore, some people advise the OP to check on their state’s food allowances and, if they are under the allowance, to refer that to the management as well.

Image source: Tracy Vickers (not the actual photo)

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If you have encountered a similar situation at work as well, we are sure that you are already eager to tell us about it. So do not hold back – just feel free to write everything in the comments, or just tell us what you think of this situation. Comments, as always, are highly welcome.

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Oleg Tarasenko

Oleg Tarasenko

Author, BoredPanda staff

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After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

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Oleg Tarasenko

Oleg Tarasenko

Author, BoredPanda staff

After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

Saulė Tolstych

Saulė Tolstych

Author, Community member

Read more »

Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

Read less »

Saulė Tolstych

Saulė Tolstych

Author, Community member

Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

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Amanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thank you for using your meal card to feed the homeless, at least it’s getting used! 🤗

Jo Cooper
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope you took the full 2 hour breaks for each meal too; 8-10, 12-2, 5-7.

Joshua Shamblin
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would seriously consider finding a new gig and then doing something terrible to that person. Like hiding a sardine in their office chair. The stench of rotting fish could gag a magot off a meat wagon.

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Amanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thank you for using your meal card to feed the homeless, at least it’s getting used! 🤗

Jo Cooper
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope you took the full 2 hour breaks for each meal too; 8-10, 12-2, 5-7.

Joshua Shamblin
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would seriously consider finding a new gig and then doing something terrible to that person. Like hiding a sardine in their office chair. The stench of rotting fish could gag a magot off a meat wagon.

Load More Comments
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