Worker Praised for Getting Even After Reprimand for Being 22 Seconds Late

Reddit users praised a tactic that an employee used after he was disciplined for arriving to work 22 seconds late.

Redditor u/ChiefSteward took to the forum "Malicious Compliance" and explained that he used to call in absent from his next work shift "just in case" to avoid any future punishment from his employer in his post. The post received more than 18,000 votes. He said that he continued to do so for years until he moved on to a different job.

According to Business News Daily, there are several reasons that contribute to why an employee is late to work, including traffic, weather and procrastination.

If an employee expects that they will arrive late to work, they are encouraged to alert their boss ahead of time and communicate with them "honestly."

"Apologize for the delay, and don't lie," the article stated. "Emphasize that you did everything possible to get to work as soon as you could, and that you won't make lateness a habit."

The outlet noted that some companies may opt into having a grace period.

"A grace period is five to seven minutes, but keep the employee handbook up to date for specific policies," the piece stated.

In his post, u/ChiefSteward wrote that the company's policy was to issue points if someone was late to work. Someone who arrived late to work without notice would be issued one point.

After accumulating a certain number of points, the employee may be fired.

Redditor u/ChiefSteward wrote that he was stuck at a set of train tracks when a train was stopped but arrived at work right on time at 10:30 p.m. When he was having difficulties punching into the system, the Redditor decided to tell his team manager who manually signed him in.

The Redditor later spoke with employees at the attendance office and said the office administrator checked his "gate time" to use that as to whether he arrived late.

"I scanned my key card at 10:30:22 p.m. That's a tardy, no-call," u/ChiefSteward wrote. "One full attendance point to be issued."

Although he told them he was stuck at the train tracks located near the place of business, he was told he should leave earlier or get a cellphone to notify his employer he would be late.

The Redditor noted that he typically arrived at work 20 minutes before the start of his shift and the incident involving the train tracks was "rare" and "unpredictable."

He decided he would call in "absent" at the end of his shift and before leaving the property using the company's phone.

While u/ChiefSteward said the company tried to write them up, the labor union defended them.

"I never forgot that my team manager tried to do me a solid though," he wrote. "If I was actually going to be late or absent for some reason, I would call that TM's desk line directly to let them know."

Redditor u/ChiefSteward wrote to Newsweek that the attendance office eventually accepted that he called in absent for his next work shift.

"It'd come back up now and then as old managers left and new managers came on," he said. "Everybody thought they were going to be the one to get me to stop."

Over the years, the company restructured the policy about absences, and u/ChiefSteward noted that fully-stopped trains were accepted as an excused tardy.

"There was actually an uptick in the number of people trying my method once that rule came into play," he said.

He said his team manager supported him in calling in an absence.

"No less so because he knew I'd make sure he knew if he really needed coverage by getting ahold of him directly," u/ChiefSteward said.

Other Redditors took to the comments section to share their thoughts and experiences with arriving to work late.

"What kind of workplace issues discipline for someone clocking in 22 seconds late," a reader wondered.

Another shared that they were told they needed to punch into work at exactly 9 a.m., so they punched out at exactly 5 p.m.

"You want to nickel and dime my time? Fine by me," they wrote. "You get EXACTLY 8 hours. PERIOD."

A Redditor commented that their manager told them that they were expected to arrive at work 15 minutes before their shift officially started.

"I didn't stay too long at that job after that," they wrote.

However, one Redditor wrote that they had a manager who was understanding when they arrived late to work due to the bus schedule once a week.

"He never gave me s**t about it because I was a good worker and was always on time the rest of the week," they wrote.

This is not the only post to have gone viral on the "Malicious Compliance" forum.

A former receptionist was praised by commenters for her response toward her boss who publicly berated her in front of clients.

A truck driver wrote that a woman was driving on the shoulder lane of a highway to avoid traffic before she drove into a police cruiser. A tenant said in their own viral post that after they were threatened by their landlord to show off their apartment to potential renters, they decided to point out the issues in the space.