CEO forces workers to 'return to office' against their will but they turned the tables on him

Years after the COVID pandemic, companies are still struggling to transition from a complete work-from-home (WFH) model to work-from-office (WFO). Some big businesses have even come up with a mandatory three days of WFO regulation after the employees chose not to return, per the BBC. However, a loyal company worker decided to take on a CEO trying to force office culture, according to a Reddit post by u/mdlapla.

It all began with the smart employee, who happened to be the CTO of the Spain-based company for almost eight years, coming up with a malicious compliance plan against his boss. The post begins by describing the technical head of an undisclosed business as a “cool guy” to be around. Before 2020, the workplace had its own “WFH policy, which was extremely relaxed,” it read.

“You do what you need to do, and we (the company) will ensure that everything is completed by the necessary time. Therefore, when the pandemic arrived, the transition was as smooth as possible,” the post added. Furthermore, the business’s tech team “embraced the opportunity” of hiring people from outside the city for a cheaper salary than paying more to those living in the metropolis. Notably, the salary offered to the newly recruited workforce was on par with their geographical proximity.

Another unidentified employee and the original poster wrote, “Even I moved out of the city during that time.” The CTO of the company was not in favor of heading the sales; they decided to induct a new CEO to ensure smooth operations. “In 2021, the company hired the CEO, an Englishman who came highly recommended. He was stationed at his rural house in the English countryside,” the post elaborated further. Initially, the employees thought their boss was a “relaxed guy,” but after the pandemic, he showed a different side. “He began to strongly advocate for a return to office (RTO) for everyone,” it revealed, adding that polls were conducted, lengthy emails were sent to everyone about WFH fostering relationships, and whatnot.

Moreover, the CEO went on to complain to the CTO about the WFH policy by being pushy about reversing it. “Whenever he visited Spain, residents of the city would go to the office simply to ensure that the CEO was pleased,” the post revealed further. However, the WFO move troubled the CTO, who decided that he had had enough of the mandatory return to office (RTO).On one fine day, the CTO suddenly asked all the employees to show up at any cost on Tuesday of the upcoming week.

"Okay, next Tuesday, I want everyone in the office. If you live far away, please book a train, drive, or do whatever is necessary to be here. I will cover the costs," the tech head said. The employees complied with the order by turning up at the office. “Every single member of the tech team, including those who took a 2 or 3-hour trip to get there, was in the office,” the post informed. However, the CEO of the company was missing, and the CTO made this the best opportunity to push the former to the wall. He emailed the top executive without asking for any explanation.

"If you can't lead by example, don't pressure my team to do things that don't work,” the email reportedly read. After his antics, the CTO went to have lunch and some beers, without worrying about anything. The RTO mandate never came to fruition after the incident, and the CEO left the company a year later. As the employees of the Spanish company enjoy their work remotely, several scrollers laud the CTO for his bold, malicious compliance move.

Among the comments section, u/PN_Guin wrote, “An interesting twist on compliance involves forcing everyone to comply (just once) to identify the only one who didn’t: the CEO.” Adding to it, u/Lookitsmyvideo assumed, “This is what happens when your word is respected, and you can back up why.” “If he had shown up, it would have made for a terrible story,” u/Ill-Simple1706 said.