Recently, a 31-year-old man who works for an unnamed company shared a story on the Malicious Compliance subreddit.
“I started working for my uncle two years ago, he has a company with some business partners of his, my work is now being directly under him,” the Redditor explained. On one occasion, the author’s uncle left for a work trip and one of his associates took over his role.
This is when things started to become tense as the temporary boss decided he didn’t like the author’s “attitude” and saw an opportunity to reduce his salary.
A boss, furious with his employee's attitude, made him punch in his work hours in hopes to reduce his salary
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
Image credits: nappy (not the actual photo)
Image credits: DisastrousNarwhal926
The OP was told that "October alone would be the reference for my bonus," which he knew was the busiest month with a ton of overtime
Bored Panda reached out to the author of this story who told us that his uncle brought the news about Gordon wanting him to punch in the work hours. He clarified that “Gordon is not exactly my boss, he owns part of the business as well as my uncle, so he is like a board member for the business” and that the decision to record his work hours was voted by the other members of the company as well.
“My first reaction was to ask about the yearly bonus since it was based on the average of my monthly payments,” he recounted. The author was told that “October alone would be the reference for my bonus and we both [him and his uncle] couldn't help but burst with laughter.” The Redditor also clarified that October is one of the busiest months of the year, so he would pile up a ton of overtime.
According to the author, his uncle “wanted to flex and see Gordon's face as he likes to brag about how he manages to cut costs and is very savvy, he actually delivers that but it’s funny to see him being responsible for a not-cost-saving measure.”
"Right after the payroll was done and they realized I had over a hundred hours of overtime," the author told us
The Redditor explained that his contract stated a fixed income and a bonus in equity after years of work. So the only thing that changed after punching in the work hours was “that of a regulation of working hours and overtime, so I accepted it in a heartbeat.”
“After I started punching my work hours I did not manage to get in touch with Gordon for a while, so I'll try to replicate what my uncle said to me, but you should mind that he occasionally exaggerates the facts.” Gordon’s first reaction came in November, right after the payroll was done and he realized the author had over a hundred hours of overtime.
The Redditor explained that Gordon was embarrassed and kinda became the bag of jokes for the other board members during that meeting. However, he managed to keep it under control and “even stated that what was done was done and there would be no going back to the previous settlement about my payments, no one even questioned that as well, only my uncle had fun about having an 'I told you so' moment.”
The author later shared some more information in the comments
In a previous interview with Bored Panda, Christine Mitterbauer, a career coach and serial entrepreneur, said that depending on the industry one works in, not receiving pay for overtime can be more or less common.
“If working overtime without getting compensated for the extra work is common in your industry, you’ll have a hard time to change this fact. You might have to ask yourself if it’s the right industry for you, or if there’s another industry that would be better suited,” she explained.
“If it’s, however, not common in your industry, you might have had bad luck with the company or manager.” Christine argues that whatever the case, employees should always consider having an honest conversation with their manager or boss and explain to them what work boundaries they need to have a balanced work and personal life, overtime pay included.
Many people showed their support to the OP
