Manager Says Workers Won't Get Paid for the Day If They're a Minute Late, Sparks Debate

Micro-managers are generally hated, especially in the workplace. There are tons of articles about how annoying it is to work underneath one. Even though they're almost universally loathed, workplaces are full of folks who just love to focus on minute details.

LinkedIn's learning blog writes, "micromanaging remains common. A survey found that 79 percent of employees have had micromanagers, and 69 percent of employees said they considered changing jobs because they were micromanaged."

In some workplaces, micro-management isn't limited to individual attributes or overbearing bosses, but may also be deeply ingrained in the corporate policy.

It can be a real bummer when you're an otherwise productive employee who performs all of their duties but are beholden to a set number of hours at the workplace, forcing you to twiddle your thumbs at your desk, or a rigid start time. Take, for example, this notice someone posted from their job, which is currently going viral on Reddit.

User @genericuser99999 uploaded an image to Reddit's popular r/azntiwork sub. It features the following warning from a company's upper management: "Please be advised when you swipe out early, there is no grace period and you are subject to attendance discipline as this will count as a full EL day."

The message continues, "Documentation will need to be provided to avoid discipline. You are expected to be at your work station ready to work at the start of your shift and to remain there except for breaks or the end of your shift. Regards, Human Resources."

So, let's say that you're scheduled to work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at this particular job and you happen to swipe in at work a little after your official start time, or heaven forbid swipe out at 4:59 p.m.. You're going to have to plead your case to management as to why that happened.

Several reports cite "dumb rules" as a big reason why many employees ultimately decide to leave a particular workplace. They amy even keep them from ever applying to work there in the first place if the policies are disclosed before they accept a job.

The Ladders writes that "stupid rules make great people quit" and went on to list several arbitrary rules that lead to higher rates of employee turnover: "Ridiculous requirements for attendance, leave, and time off...When you ding salaried employees for showing up five minutes late even though they routinely stay late and put in time on the weekend, you send the message that policies take precedence over performance. It reeks of distrust, and you should never put someone on salary that you don’t trust."

The majority of Redditors commented that such strict polices only serve to distance employees from employers and create hostile work environments. Therefore, they increase employee turnover rates, which are detrimental to a company's long-term financial success.

Some Redditors even commented that they've worked in similar environments and saw it backfire on the company:

"I worked at a place like this before. A couple of times I knew I'd be just slightly late, so I'd turn around in the lot and just go home. Why not?"

Others said that policies like these are inherently hypocritical because if a worker were to stay later, management wouldn't pay extra for that or would even just expect it.

"I hate that hypocrisy, happens at my work. They will freak out at you if you leave a couple minutes early when your shift is done and there's nothing left to do, but they sure are quiet when they want you to start your shift early or stay behind a couple minutes late to finish a report. 'Got to be a team player' they say."

Some people have been so frustrated by policies like this, they quit without even finding another job first: "And that's the main reason I left my last job. Probably not my smartest decision, given that now I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to cover my rent and bills for next month, but they pulled this bs so many times and so shamelessly that by the end of it I was constantly pissed even when I wasn't at work, it was making me ill and I just couldn't do it anymore."

What do you think? Do you need to know more about the situation before you can make an assessment? Perhaps employee tardiness was a large-scale problem at the company? Or do you think that this isn't OK in any circumstance?