Worker Gets Put on Performance Review and Banned From Working From Home Right Before Working From Home Becomes Mandatory

Reddit user u/dodohead974 took to the popular community r/MaliciousCompliance to share a story about a co-worker they call Joe, who was put on performance review at what's described as a "stereotypical corporate job." The performance review involved Joe being barred from working from home, no approved overtime, no new assignments, and no raises or bonuses for six months. Joe was still unable to work from home due to this bizarre performance review when everyone started working from home. What did Joe do, given that he was at home but not allowed to work at home? He did nothing and said nothing until somebody noticed — just collected a check while not actually working. When someone did catch Joe's deception, he used the situation to his advantage and wound up with the equivalent of a paid vacation, a raise, and a bonus.

Classic management blunder: punish with hard terms only to have it backfire terribly when the subordinate complies with the letter of the law.

Everyone could use a little bit of Joe in their lives. He's the guy who stands up for himself and his peers and isn't afraid of any repercussions that might be directed his way. He takes it on the chin and continues to steer those above him in the right direction. There's nothing like when someone has to admit their incompetence to reverse your malicious compliance.