Company reportedly starts fining employees for coming late even by a minute, they turn tables on management

Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 9, 2022.

Trust is an important component when it comes to your workplace. If the boss is going to micro-manage you and hover over you, it isn't going to bode well for the work environment. Micro-managing usually happens when there is a lack of trust and the management tries to control every small detail. One person claimed their company tried to punish workers for being late by even by ten minutes, reported Bored Panda. They said the plan didn't work out as intended as they tried to impose fines for being late. Titled: "My company's late and sick policies are biting them, and now they're crying about it," they detailed how a company that allegedly tried to put a clock on the employees ended up regretting it. 

"We have to clock in at a machine, and in the past, the rule was that if you were late, you'd lose money in 15-minute blocks until you clocked in. Management started crying because suddenly no one who was late was late by less than 10 minutes (generally stopping to grab a drink or have a cigarette on the way in, because they've already lost the pay right?)" they wrote on Reddit.

To fight against the fallacy of their own policy, they allegedly decided to revise the policy. "Now, you lose an hour's pay the moment you're late... I don't know anyone who has been late by less than 55 minutes since the rule came out," they wrote, explaining that they had worked their way around the new policy. "Whole focus group happened and people pointed out that heavy-handed policies invite exploitation, we asked how they expected people to (who for whatever reason, was running late that day) work for no pay and they just shrugged," they wrote. "In the end, anyone who knows they're going to be late for work now knows to just slow down and relax, grab a coffee, and stop at a shop. No rush. Well done management!"

Similarly, the management allegedly complained that people were taking off on too many days and implemented another rule to fight that. "Absence was a fairly big issue a few years ago, and they didn't like it. Action time! On top of a two-day no sick pay rule, they now have a no-excuses disciplinary policy. 2 days off, and you get disciplinary. Standard chain of disciplinaries that leads up to you getting sacked," they wrote.

People also found a way around the new sick leave policy. "The problem is... Now, if I get sick, and I'm off for 2 days, I might as well make the most of it. I'm in no more trouble for being off longer; there's no maximum time. Whether it's 3 days or 18 months, I come back and get a stage 1 disciplinary. So I've done my 2 days unpaid. I'm now getting my sick pay; it's been a while since the last holiday, and there's a long slog to the next one... How much time can I afford to have off?" they wrote. "Again, focus group. Heavy-handed policies invite exploitation, shrugs. If you're going to beat us for minor infractions, which sometimes can't be helped, we're going to make our infraction worth the punishment."

The Reddit user said the company soon started to realize that the new rules were not working. When asked if the alleged actions of the company constituted wage theft, they said they were based in the UK where it was 'unfortunately entirely legal'. "The company is very large, operates globally, and has these things locked down pretty tightly. It's been argued before in courts when individuals have been sacked for continued lateness, absence, etc," they wrote, before adding that they had no complaints about the pay. "We are over the minimum by a significant degree, which is the main reason we all still work there. Wages aren't the problem, just the hoops we have to jump through," they noted. They also spoke to Bored Panda about continuing on the job. “Having collected and acclimated to our wages for some time now, it would require significant changes and personal sacrifices that the majority of us, myself included, are simply unwilling to make in order to break away and accept a lower wage,” they said. “Our employers are as aware of this as we are, and therefore, we all know that until the conditions are absolutely intolerable, the majority of the workforce will remain firmly in place.”