Work To Rule: What Does It Mean?

• You work to the rule of the job, without cutting corners or taking short cuts.
• The purpose is to slow down production in the workplace without doing something that could be considered illegal.
• A collections officer might have a quality assurance check list for their files. In this instance the collector would ensure that every point in that checklist is reviewed on each file before continuing on to their next account.
• A telephone enquiries officer might ask more probing questions of a caller just to ensure that they haven’t missed something else that caller might need an answer for.
• An auditor might want to ensure that they expend all of their allowable time on a file, go through the file with a fine-tooth comb.

Work To Rule also means:

• Taking all of your scheduled coffee breaks and lunch breaks.
• Not working any overtime of any kind for any reason.
• Not doing the work of a co-worker when they are absent from the office.
• Not performing any duties that aren’t in your job description (we no longer have “other related duties” included in the job descriptions)
• Starting work at your scheduled time and not before; and stopping work at your scheduled time and not a minute later (that’s considered free overtime for the employer).