Following your company’s rules is always a good thing, right?
That’s not the case 100% of the time.
The exception to the rule is malicious compliance, which occurs whenever an employee follows company policy but knows that doing so will cause negative consequences to their employer.
In other words, the employee is following the rules to the T, but they have an ulterior motive in doing so, one that most often benefits them but harms the organization.
Malicious compliance often occurs as a direct result of unfavorable work environment practices like micromanagement, unfair practices, or poor compensation.
This means that nine times out of 10, malicious compliance is a rebellious employee’s way of getting back at the company without technically doing anything wrong.
As a simple example of malicious compliance, consider an employee whose hair is very long, which goes against the guidelines set in the employee handbook. Their manager tells them to get a shorter haircut to comply with company policy.
The employee is highly annoyed that they have to change their hairstyle.
So, they comply, but maliciously.
Instead of getting a professional-looking short haircut, they choose a highly outlandish one, like a mohawk, to retaliate against their manager.
The catch is that their new hairstyle doesn’t violate any policy or guidelines, so the manager is forced to accept it.
Although this is a simple and somewhat silly example, it effectively highlights the core principle behind malicious compliance. This principle revolves around the desire to retaliate against an employer while remaining within the confines of the rules.
Stay tuned to learn everything you need to know about malicious compliance in the workplace, including ways to prevent it.
Understanding malicious compliance and its impacts
Malicious compliance, while mostly harmless, can cause serious harm to organizations in some instances.
For instance, let’s say a middle manager at a customer service call center regularly disciplines employees for staying late and receiving overtime.
Yet, their employees stay late because they’re busy wrapping up important customer service calls.
The manager doesn’t know this and angrily tells his staff to leave on time every day, period.
Not wanting to get chewed out and seeking revenge, his employees decide not to answer customer service calls that come in 10 minutes before the end of their shift.
The result?
Each employee clocks out at 5:00 PM on the dot, but the company’s reputation takes a serious hit.
Angry calls flood the company from customers who couldn’t get through to a live customer service agent, even though they called within business hours.
This causes the intentions of the middle manager to backfire.
None of his employees are receiving overtime now, but the policy severely damaged the company’s reputation with its customers.
In this scenario, the consequences are far more negative than simply dealing with an employee with a funny haircut.
Malicious compliance can also cost companies thousands of dollars and lead to potential lawsuits, so it’s essential to take the concept seriously.
Also, many people don’t understand the difference between malicious compliance, quiet quitting, and insubordination, so let’s quickly clarify the differences.
Malicious compliance vs. insubordination
Remember, while malicious compliance can have serious negative consequences, it doesn’t involve breaking the rules.
Conversely, insubordination occurs whenever an employee needs to respect company policies and direct orders from managers. This means it’s a form of non-compliance.
It’s far easier to discipline insubordinate employees for this reason, as you can clearly cite the rules that they broke to cause their punishment.
Malicious compliance is different because the employee didn’t break any rules, even though they may have caused massive harm to your organization through their actions (and knew about it the entire time).
Here’s a simplified version to help you remember the difference:
Insubordination is when an employee intentionally breaks the rules to achieve a certain goal (it doesn’t have to be nefarious, but it usually is, like stealing funds from petty cash).
Malicious compliance is when an employee doesn’t break the rules but does something negative on purpose (like an employee getting a silly haircut as retaliation for changing their appearance).
Malicious compliance vs. quiet quitting
Quiet quitting is a recent phenomenon that rose in popularity after the Great Resignation of 2021.
It’s where an employee ‘quietly quits’ their job by putting in the minimal effort required not to get fired. They don’t go above and beyond, work overtime, or work hard.
Quiet quitting is similar to malicious compliance in that both are rebellious acts that don’t technically break the rules.
That’s because quiet quitting still involves following company policies and completing regular work shifts. The only difference is that employees aren’t trying as hard as they would if they were truly engaged.
Also, quiet quitters usually aren’t trying to harm the organization; they’re simply burnt out and don’t want to deal with any more stress.
This differs from issues of malicious compliance, where employees have nefarious intentions behind their actions. Maliciously compliant employees are well aware of the harm they’re doing to the company, and it’s their goal.
Malicious compliance vs. chaotic working
Lastly, some HR professionals confuse malicious compliance with chaotic working, another similar yet unique workplace concept.
Chaotic working is a form of rebellion where an employee engages in overly generous acts toward customers at the organization’s expense.
This behavior often manifests as offering excessive discounts exceeding the company’s approved limits. Additionally, employees might extend sales promotions beyond their intended end dates or even resort to giving away products without charge
An example would be a disgruntled sales rep deciding to sell products at half price, even though they weren’t given permission to do so.
While the customers certainly appreciate these seemingly generous acts, they’re actually a way for employees to ‘stick it’ to their company.
It’s different from malicious compliance because chaotic work sometimes involves following the rules. In fact, it often consists of breaking them (like extending the deadline for a promotion without asking permission).
However, chaotic working often has the same root causes as malicious compliance. Both are often a result of unfair work practices. Examples include:
Micromanagement (“My boss is always breathing down my neck”)
Being underpaid
Toxic coworkers
A lack of benefits (health insurance, company credit card, etc.)
Long working hours with no overtime
Possible negative impacts of malicious compliance
At first glance, it may seem like malicious compliance is nothing more than a nuisance and is just a way for employees to blow off some steam.
However, as pointed out earlier, malicious compliance can have dire consequences for a company.
The first time an employee engages in maliciously compliant behavior at your organization, you should take action. If unchecked, the insidious trend may permeate to the rest of your team (and new hires).
Here’s a look at the possible negative effects malicious compliance could have on your organization:
Customer complaints. Like the example before, where the customer service team stopped taking calls at 4:45 to reduce overtime, malicious compliance can cause customer complaints. This is one of the most harmful ways an employee can use this behavior, so you should immediately take notice when it happens. If you notice an uptick in customer complaints, have your managers do some digging to find out the root cause.
Lack of morale. An employee who is maliciously compliant risks bringing your whole team down. Other workers will notice their malicious behavior, and it could A) inspire them to do the same or B) cause them to lose enthusiasm for their work. Either option isn’t good, so you should always aim to resolve malicious compliance for the sake of your team’s morale.
Financial hits. Maliciously compliant behavior can also negatively impact your bottom line. An example from the r/Malicious Compliance subreddit perfectly exemplifies this. In it, a new manager docks an employee’s pay for being two minutes late. The employee’s union then demanded log-in and log-off times from the call center’s workers. This quickly backfired as each employee stayed longer to resolve calls, causing the company to pay back wages to their staff at overtime rates. Ouch!
How employers can prevent malicious compliance: a step-by-step guide
The best-case scenario is to avoid acts of malicious compliance altogether, but that’s easier said than done.
Still, by following these steps, you can drastically reduce the likelihood of this type of behavior occurring in the first place.
Also, these steps will help you quickly identify malicious compliance as soon as it takes place, which will help you resolve it twice as fast.
That way, you won’t have to worry about malicious behavior poisoning your company culture.
Step #1: Carefully review your policies for loopholes
The first step is to sit down and closely analyze your company’s policies.
In particular, you should look for loopholes and other instances where employees could exploit your rules and regulations.
Ask yourself questions like, “Would an employee be able to exploit this? Are there angles to this rule that we haven’t considered yet? Has anyone exploited this rule in the past?“
You should also regularly update your policies to keep them fresh and compelling.
If you’ve dealt with instances of malicious compliance, hunt down the rules they took advantage of and update them.
By the end of this process, you’ll have an airtight list of policies that employees will have difficulty exploiting.
Step #2: Listen to your employee’s feedback
Next, ensure that your managers regularly have 1:1 meetings with your employees.
During each session, they should give each employee a chance to provide feedback, especially about how things are going around the office.
Make sure their feedback is anonymous to encourage them to be as honest as possible during these meetings.
Besides that, it’s important to speak to employees who engage in maliciously compliant behavior.
Avoid an overly aggressive approach here.
Instead, give them a chance to explain their actions without fear of repercussions on your part. Most of the time, this will cause the employee to give an honest reason why they acted in a rebellious, malicious manner.
After understanding their motivations, you can take steps to prevent a recurrence. This often involves addressing any underlying unfairness that triggered their rebellious actions. However, remember that each situation is unique and may require a tailored approach.
Step #3: Respect and trust your employees
Last, it would help to elicit a culture of trust and respect amongst your staff. After all, if your employees don’t feel that you respect or trust them, they’ll be twice as likely to engage in rebellious behavior.
Always allow employees to explain themselves whenever things go wrong, and avoid unfavorable work practices like micromanaging and stack ranking (where you regularly fire the bottom performing employees).
A culture of respect will significantly contribute to developing hard-working and trustworthy employees. Furthermore, it will lead to a drastic reduction in instances of malicious compliance.
Final thoughts: Malicious compliance at work
To summarize, malicious compliance is a form of workplace rebellion when an employee follows the rules but harms the organization.
It’s a deliberate action by the employee. Furthermore, it often signals underlying issues within your organization.
Typical causes include micromanagement, a lack of pay, and other unfair work practices.
By enacting the steps listed in this guide, you can reduce the likelihood of rebellious behavior like malicious compliance from occurring at your organization.
More Resources:
Gainsharing: The key to rewarding smarter, harder work
Leadership weaknesses: How self-awareness & feedback drive growth
Quiet hiring: Pros, cons, and best practices for success
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