# What's the most unreasonable, pointless, inane, illegal, or just plain insane policies you've been subjected to in the workplace? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273 "2022-04-04T20:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/201 "2022-04-21T01:07:09Z")
I have no idea. I doubt it’s an issue in Santa Barbara though. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/202 "2022-04-21T01:16:15Z")
You adjust it yourself, you take an official time-clock sheet, write your time you arrived, reason for not being on time/adjustment (fire drill) and they’ll accept it no questions asked. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/203 "2022-04-21T01:52:36Z")
For meal actuals vs flat per diem, I wonder what the overhead implications are. I worked for a company that switched from the former to the latter and it was less work for me, although I don’t think they cared about that. I’m guessing it was less work for the bean counters too. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/204 "2022-04-21T06:26:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So you put the Fitbit on the dog. “I’m worried about Timmy. His FitBit has shown no movement for the past four hours.” Of course, we have hounds. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/205 "2022-04-21T09:55:01Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > My friend has a son in middle school. For gym the were required to use their smart phone or fitbit or whatever and record a minimum number of step per day. Where were they going to walk during lockdown? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/206 "2022-04-21T12:19:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Where were they going to walk during lockdown? At least in my area of the US, socially distanced walking outside was allowed. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/207 "2022-04-21T13:57:24Z")
Parks, sidewalks, beach. It’s not Wuhon. There was never a time when you couldn’t walk around outside. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/208 "2022-04-21T14:30:15Z")
Tell that to some of the people on this board. They flipped out with the idea of somebody going walking without a mask with nobody around for half a mile. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/209 "2022-04-21T14:31:51Z")
I don’t see why they couldn’t wear a mask though. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/210 "2022-04-21T15:26:42Z")
As I recall, they couldn’t wear masks because of the carbon dioxide build up in their bodies. And I think we were supposed to wear masks when out walking, but don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/211 "2022-04-21T16:03:11Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Tell that to some of the people on this board. They flipped out with the idea of somebody going walking without a mask with nobody around for half a mile. Early on, about the time schools quit for the summer, I mentioned we had a teacher convoy drive through the neighborhood with signs like _Love U_ and _Hang in there_ while kids and their parents waved from their front yards. Several people here thought it was horribly irresponsible, paramount to Sturgis-lite (which hadn’t happened yet). ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/212 "2022-04-21T16:03:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So you put the Fitbit on the dog. Well, at least they had to catch the dog! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/213 "2022-04-21T16:13:11Z")
The way that I found out was a bunch of us were at a backyard bbq. I knew the mom and her husband but I had never met her kid. For the whole first part of the bbq he was walking back and forth across the back fence of the yard. I thought the he might have been on the spectrum or something. Eventually he announced that he was done and his mom explained to me that he was getting his steps done for gym class. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/214 "2022-04-21T16:18:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The amount of head in ass time wastage about one or two spaces is incredible. Who the fuck cares? And yes, I know a lot of uptight grammar narzis do care, but for no real good reason. Just to be a dickhead. > > We had one of those at one of my jobs. Thank you! It’s nice to be acknowledged. _And_ that incredible waste of time was the sprinkles on a giant banana split of pointless time wasting, for a client that had way too much real work to do. Also, my condolences for your similar experience. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/215 "2022-04-21T17:32:13Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > So, by the manager telling me there were no breaks, she ended up causing me to take more breaks than I otherwise would have. The ol’ penny wise and pound foolish ploy. The company I retired from had run out of space for IT employees a few years after I hired on. So, my department was moved to a rented location down the block. We also had an employee vanpool program, where employees drove the vans. One of my cow-orkers was a driver, and he used to drop off the people on his van who worked at the corporate HQ, then drive up to our leased location. He alloted time for traffic considerations and other unforeseen occurences, so he was always at his desk early – sometimes by 20 or 30 minutes. But to pick up his riders in the afternoon, he left work 5 mins (or less) early to drive down to load up his riders. Our department head was also at our leased location with a window overlooking the front entrance. When he noticed this employee leaving a little bit early, he made an announcement about it and insisted everyone had to leave on time, not before. Well, to compensate for this couple of minutes, the driver would start to work as soon as he got to his desk in the morning. The company was coming out ahead by 15-25 minutes every day. What did he do about the leaving early edict? He brought his newspaper in (this was the dark ages) and sat at his desk reading it until the clock ticked over to 8:00. > [@teelabrown](#): > > I was working at a law firm in Ventura in 1994. The Northridge Earthquake happened that year, and Ventura got a hell of a shaking even though it was miles away from Northridge. When the Whittier Narrows earthquake hit, my work location was essentially sitting on the epicenter. It was actually rather cool to be standing in the parking lot and feel the ground jump under your feet. But the building was quite damaged, and we had a few days off so experts could judge which parts were still safe. The time off code (not vacation, holiday or illness) was 55 (the things you remember!) with an alpha character to indicate which kind of time off it was (eg. U was for union business). They got to add a new code – E – for earthquake! ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/216 "2022-04-21T17:46:53Z")
I think I’ve posted this before, but I was in a situation where the big boss had to back down. We got a new VP/GM for the business unit that included our little 300 person division. A few weeks later, the new GM addressed an all-hands meeting. During the meeting, he let us know that he had observed, in his visits to the plant during the past weeks, that our parking lot was practically deserted at 8 AM, which was the start of the workday. He announced that this was not acceptable and that he expected all employees to be on time for the start of work. Well, a number of the engineers went to their bosses and asked if this was a new policy. If it was, they would be perfectly happy to arrive precisely at 8 PM and leave precisely at 5 PM. Since the typical engineer’s work day at this plant was arrival at 9-10 AM and leave at 9-10 PM, this was not going help productivity. Word filtered down pretty quickly that, no, this wasn’t policy, just an expression of personal opinion and no one was being asked to alter their schedules. We never heard anything more about this from the GM in any meetings at our division. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/217 "2022-04-21T17:51:32Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > Word filtered down pretty quickly that, no, this wasn’t policy, just an expression of personal opinion and no one was being asked to alter their schedules. We never heard anything more about this from the GM in any meetings at our division. Yeah, when it comes to dollars and cents some managers can understand. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/218 "2022-04-21T18:18:42Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I think I’ve posted this before, but I was in a situation where the big boss had to back down. We had a boss be replaced for that sort of bullshit. The cool boss who understood that getting the work done timely was more important than counting minutes thought it was time to move on and was replaced by a control freak. The control freak decreed we all WOULD be at work on time and that we would take our scheduled breaks only, no chatting by the coffee machine or anything else. We took to timing EVERYTHING and walked away from our desks, reports, ringing phones and customers in the lobby at the exact second our office clock said it was time. She wanted 40 hours a week out of us and that is just what she got and the numbers showed it. She was replaced a year later. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/219 "2022-04-21T18:21:06Z")
They just need to pair it with a policy where whenever anyone goes to the bathroom, they announce “I’m going to the bathroom. Don’t start any fires until I get back!” ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273/220 "2022-04-21T18:25:38Z")
IMHO, running work potlucks is an unreasonable, pointless, inane (probably legal) and insane policy. If the company wants to buy lunch for the employees, fantastic. But pressuring employees to bring in food to share with everyone else? Just no. I worked at a startup with a very energetic admin who scheduled potlucks every month, and pressured everyone into signing up for something. Around the 4th one, most of engineering staged a minor revolt and issued a statement as a group that we did not choose to participate in this or any future potluck. This caused an uproar with the rest of the company, and the VP of engineering wound up catering engineering’s potluck “contribution” from a BBQ place across the street. Thankfully, it was also the end of the potlucks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-unreasonable-pointless-inane-illegal-or-just-plain-insane-policies-youve-been-subjected-to-in-the-workplace/962273.md?page=12)