Work-to-rule

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Work-to-rule (also known as an Italian strike, in Italian: Sciopero bianco, or Slowdown in US usage[1]) is a job action in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract or job,[2][3] and strictly follow time-consuming rules normally not enforced.[4] This may cause a slowdown or decrease in productivity if the employer does not hire enough employees or pay the appropriate salary and as such does not have the requirements needed to run at the level they desire.[5][6] It is a form of protest against low pay and poor working conditions,[3] and is considered less disruptive than a strike or lockout as obeying the rules is not susceptible to disciplinary action or loss of pay.

In practice there may be ambiguous conditions, for example a contract that requires working additional hours when necessary, or a requirement to work to operational requirements. In such cases workers have been recommended to ask for a written direction to carry out the work, which can be used as evidence if necessary.[7]

Applications

Quiet quitting

Quiet quitting is an application of work-to-rule.[8][9] Despite the name, the philosophy of quiet quitting is not connected to quitting a job outright, but rather, employees avoid going above and beyond at work by doing the bare minimum required and engage in work-related activities solely within defined work hours.[10] Proponents of quiet quitting also refer to it as acting your wage[11] and say that the goal of quiet quitting is not to disrupt the workplace, but to avoid occupational burnout and to improve work-life balance.

There are no verifiable sources as to who coined the phrase,[12] but it became popular during 2022, mostly through the social video platform TikTok.[13] In 2022, quiet quitting experienced a surge in popularity in numerous publications following a viral TikTok video[14] which was inspired by a Business Insider article.[15] That same year, Gallup found that roughly half of the U.S. workforce were quiet quitters.[16]

The coronavirus pandemic sparked the movement of quiet quitting even more as gen Z would be doing the work according to how it is outlined in their contract.[17]

Response

While individual contributors might think in terms of otherwise "engaged workers setting reasonable boundaries", their employers might see them instead as "slackers who are willfully underperforming".[18] Sometimes work-to-rule can be considered by employers as malicious compliance as they pursue legal action against workers. While not legally enforceable under minimum statutory law, employers may enforce customized employment contract terms that the employee agreed to:

  • Overtime is waived in part, in whole, or converted to time-in-lieu
  • Breaks are set by management
  • Job description includes "ad-hoc task" or "as assigned"
  • Termination for any reason

They may also take standard forms of action especially where custom terms were not negotiated during the offer:

The opposite of 'quiet quitting' is 'quiet firing', in which an employer deliberately offers only a minimum wage and benefits and denies any advances in the hope that an unwanted employee would quit.[19][20] The phrase could also mean employers reducing the scope of a worker's responsibilities to encourage them to quit voluntarily.[18] "Quiet hiring" is another term that has been used to describe a strategy by employers to give additional responsibilities and unpaid extra workload to hard-working employees.[21]

Examples

Cases of work-to-rule have included

  • UK postal workers normally arrived an hour before their official start time, did unpaid overtime at the end of deliveries, used their own (uninsured) cars for deliveries, and carried mailbags too heavy by health and safety guidelines. During a dispute they arrived at start time, stopped deliveries at the end of their allotted shift, only used official vans, and weighed mailbags to keep within the limit.[22]
  • French railway workers, who are not allowed to strike, were required by law to be sure of the safety of all bridges the train had to pass over; if doubtful of safety they had to consult other train crew members. During a dispute they inspected every bridge, and consulted; trains did not arrive on time.[4]
  • Austrian postal workers normally accept without weighing all items that are obviously not overweight. During a dispute they observed the rule that all mail must be weighed, taking it to the scales, weighing, and then taking it back. The office was crammed with unweighed mail by the second day.[4]
  • Workers may have the right to a specified number of toilet breaks; they may insist on taking the maximum allowed during a dispute.[4]

Although the term quiet quitting was popularised in 2022,[23] aspects of quiet quitting have existed in the workplace and popular culture for much longer. The film Office Space (1999) depicts a character engaging in quiet quitting; in the film, Ron Livingston's character Peter Gibbons abandons the concept of work entirely and does the bare minimum required of him.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ "English translation of 'sciopero bianco'". collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. ^ "work to rule". Collins Dictionary.
  3. ^ a b "work-to-rule". Cambridge Dictionary.
  4. ^ a b c d "Work-to-rule: a guide". libcom.org. 11 November 2006.
  5. ^ Morgan, Gareth (1998). Images of Organization. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. p. 165. ISBN 0-7619-1752-7. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Air Canada Hit By Work-to-Rule". The Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 9 December 1968. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Working to Rule". Unite. The union for staff at the FCA. 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Column: 'Quiet quitting' is just a new name for an old reality". Los Angeles Times. 25 August 2022.
  9. ^ Lord, Jonathan. "Quiet quitting is a new name for an old method of industrial action". The Conversation.
  10. ^ Multiple sources:
  11. ^ "'Business'". "The Economist". 1 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  12. ^ Hitt, Tarpley. "The Libertarian Who Supposedly Coined "Quiet Quitting"". Gawker. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  13. ^ "If Your Co-Workers Are 'Quiet Quitting,' Here's What That Means". Wall Street Journal. 12 August 2022.
  14. ^ Teitell, Beth (16 September 2022). "As quiet quitting goes viral, it's turning into the pumpkin spice of 2022". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  15. ^ Seward, Zachary M. (26 October 2022). "The guy who inspired the 'quiet quitting' movement is back to working 50 hours a week". Quartz. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  16. ^ Harter, Jim (6 September 2022). "Is Quiet Quitting Real?". Gallup.com. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  17. ^ Formica, Sandro; Sfodera, Fabiola (17 November 2022). "The Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting paradigm shifts: An overview of current situation and future research directions". Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. 31 (8): 899–907. doi:10.1080/19368623.2022.2136601. ISSN 1936-8623. S2CID 253077483.
  18. ^ a b Miller, Karla L. (8 September 2022). "Actually, we've been 'quiet quitting' and 'quiet firing' for years". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  19. ^ Miller, Karla L. (1 September 2022). "After 'quiet quitting,' here comes 'quiet firing'". Business. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  20. ^ Borchers, Callum (29 September 2022). "Employers strike back at 'Quitters'". The Wall Street Journal. pp. A12.
  21. ^ Breen, Amanda (9 September 2022). "Google's 'Quiet Hiring' Method Is Bad News for 'Quiet Quitters'". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Royal Mail strikes suspended for talks as work to rule continues". libcom.org. 10 August 2007.
  23. ^ "'I was working 60 hours a week so I quiet quit'". 30 August 2022.
  24. ^ Albom, Mitch (28 August 2022). "Mitch Albom: The only thing new about quiet quitting is the name". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 5 September 2022.

External links


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