Company Creates Ridiculous Policies for Lateness and Sick Leave, and It Completely Backfires on Them

Some workplace policies are so heavy-handed that they end up creating the exact behavior managers wanted to stop. That is what happened when one company tried to crack down on lateness and sick leave, only to watch employees respond in the most predictable way possible.

In a post shared on r/AntiWork, Alternative_Hunter34 described a workplace that pays well and keeps people around, even if the management style leaves a lot to be desired. The company kept changing its rules, first on lateness and then on sick leave, but the fixes only seemed to make things worse.

The story is messy, frustrating, and a little too familiar. By the end, it is hard to tell whether management learned anything at all.

Ridiculous punishment policies can ultimately backfire on companies, and they mostly do.

CuriousMarc (not the actual photo)

OP shared a ridiculous late policy from his company

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If I know I will be charged for 15 minutes, I might as well make good use of it—every second.

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So the company increased the 15-minute pay reduction to one hour. Surprise, surprise—no one was late by under 55 minutes.

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The focus group brought no results. Of course, it's because the company wouldn't listen to the employees.

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Well done, management.

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Now, the sick leave.

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The absence policy is ridiculous and makes people revolt.

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Employees will try to make the most of it.

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Three days or 18 months—it's the same.

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The focus group (yes, again) brings no results because management doesn't care to listen.

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The company is not satisfied...

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Management has changed the policies. Again.

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New policies are discussed...

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Now, OP’s company is not bad at all, and people are generally happy:

“At the time of leaving my previous job nearly ten years ago, this company was doing well and growing steadily,” Alternative_Hunter34 explained. “They had ample job opportunities, and I walked in with ease. Essentially, I was drawn in by inertia, the path of least resistance. The job would be fine if not for the management situation. As I mentioned in a reply to one poster, the job is well paid. Above minimum wage by a significant degree, and we have been steadily well paid since I joined.”Alternative_Hunter34 isn’t planning on leaving the company. “As my company well knows, they offer the best-paid, entry-level, no-skills jobs in a wide radius,” they said. “We all moan, we all rant and rave, but most of us will be in the next day, week, and month regardless, and without breaking step, we will fight to keep the jobs we complain about should we come under redundancy or disciplinary action.”

It’s like the coworker who backed a cat after a strict pet policy, and everyone paid for it.

Yup, depending on the country...

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According to Redditors, ridiculous punishing policies are common:

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So instead of losing five minutes of someone's work, they lose an hour.

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You can’t control people...

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Named, shamed, and boycotted.

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Management would have probably accomplished more with a friendly approach.

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Humans are human.

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Incentives work better than punishment.

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The house always wins...

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Problem solved:

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OP admits that they’ve fallen into a money trap. In other words, they are not completely satisfied, but the money is good, and the job is easy.

Leaving it would require effort, courage, and stepping out of their comfort zone. So, people stay.

And the managers are aware of that. No one is taking any radical steps, and the status quo seems to suit everyone.

But for how long?

For another workplace policy meltdown, see what happened when someone enforced a pet-friendly rule.