Boss complained about workers 'disappearing' from office — until they maliciously complied with real-time alert system
The manager stressed that leaving without notifying someone did not look professional, so rather than push back, the employee chose to comply in irony
Most workplaces have some version of a rule about being "available" during office hours, but when one boss addressed the issue during a meeting of people "disappearing" from their desks without telling anyone, one employee decided to follow that instruction more literally than expected. The story was shared on Reddit by u/Far_Turn9771 and has gained 33k upvotes so far.
In their post, the employee explained, "We had a team meeting where my boss said people are just getting up and disappearing without telling anyone." According to the post, the manager stressed that leaving without notifying someone did not look professional, so rather than push back or argue the point, the employee chose to comply fully. "So now I message him on Teams every single time," they wrote, describing how every small movement from their desk triggered a notification, whether they were "stepping away for the restroom," "going to grab coffee," or for a "printer run."
"Last week I sent him 9 messages in one day," the employee added, noting that the messages were sent exactly as instructed. By Friday, the manager responded, "You don't need to tell me every time you move," to which the employee replied, "Just wanted to make sure I'm being professional like you asked." According to the post, the matter has not been mentioned again since that exchange.
Research has shown that when workers feel closely monitored, it can affect how they perceive oversight and their relationship with supervisors. A 2024 study published in Social Currents looked at how employees across industries feel about surveillance at work by asking a national sample of 3,508 Canadian workers about their overall perceptions of being monitored on the job, rather than focusing on only certain occupations. The researchers used statistical modeling to examine how workers’ perceptions of surveillance related to their psychological distress and job satisfaction.
The researchers found that when employees feel like they are constantly being watched or monitored too closely, they tend to report more stress and lower job satisfaction. That connection appears to happen because monitoring increases everyday pressures at work, reduces employees’ sense of control over their tasks, and creates privacy concerns. In fact, when it came to psychological distress, those added pressures fully explained why higher levels of perceived surveillance were linked to greater stress.
The comment section was filled with similar experiences from others who had encountered comparable management styles. u/Important-Art4892 shared, "I had a boss like this too that tried to keep tabs on me... so would put a message up that said things like: going to the bathroom, going to get an aspirin, going to get feminine product from my car, etc. She finally caved and said just put up a message if I'm going to be gone for any significant length of time! Ha!" u/yakshack wrote, "I've had bosses like this too, and the thing is, every time you need them for a question or approval or something, they're never at their desk, and you can never find them." u/MenaciaJones added, "My former boss did this, and the problem child to whom this was directed did the same. He was the king not only of malicious compliance but weaponized incompetence as well."
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