Accountant Maliciously Complies With Boss’s Rule, Watches The Place Turn Into Chaos
It seems like every day there’s another story online of a toxic supervisor or manager who makes their employees’ lives hell. So when you manage to find a boss you actually enjoy working for, you’ll likely cling to them as hard as you can. And anyone else, who’s forced to abide by a strict dress code and be no more than 10 seconds late each morning, might be a bit jealous…
One accountant who loves his laid back boss recently shared on Reddit how drama ensued in his office after his firm merged with another whose boss kept them on a tight leash. Below, you’ll find the full story, as well as some of the replies amused readers left.
After two accounting firms merged, this employee immediately picked up on hostility from his new colleagues
Image credits: DNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
So he decided to dangle some bait in front of them, and it didn’t take long for the office drama to ensue
Image credits: Cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Andrew Neel (not the actual photo)
Image credits: u/StaffAccountantDude
Being an accountant is a notoriously stressful job
Image credits: Dan Dimmock (not the actual photo)
Accountants are known for having extremely stressful jobs. According to a 2022 study, 55% of accountants admit to suffering from stress and burnout, and they’re often required to work long hours week after week. During tax season, it’s not unusual for accountants to work 50-80 hours each week, and this can last for months. One third of accountants even say that they’re stressed at work every day, and a third also admit that they check their emails while on holiday or sick leave. The two main reasons that accountants cite for their high levels of stress are being overworked and dealing with office politics. Unfortunately, however, many also report that they’re too busy to seek mental health support.
According to Benjamin Wann, CPA, there are a variety of reasons why accountants decide to move on to a different career path, including dissatisfaction with pay and benefits, seeking a change of pace, being tired of the repetitive work, being automated out of their jobs, having a lack of career advancement opportunities, feeling burned out from the profession, and more. When it comes to being burned out, Benjamin says, “As an accountant, it’s easy to feel stuck in a rut. The day-to-day grind of bookkeeping and financial reporting can be tedious and repetitive. And because the profession is so detail-oriented, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture. This can lead to feelings of burnout and disillusionment. As a result, many accountants choose to leave the profession altogether.”
But there are ways employers and staff members can mitigate stress
Image credits: ahmad gunnaivi (not the actual photo)
To ensure that accountants don’t burn out too quickly or become overwhelmed with stress, it’s important for employers to prioritize making their staff feel valued and provide them resources to take care of their mental health. The accountant in this story noted that he loves his boss because he doesn’t worry about unnecessary issues such as a dress code and exact timekeeping. These may seem like small things, but when you’re already working a stressful job, having to be concerned about what you wear and being perfectly on time every day can contribute to daily stress levels. When employees are allowed to simply focus on producing great work, everyone is happier.
One 2017 study on supervisor behavior even found that there is no evidence to support the idea that a tough boss is more likely to get results. Not to mention the fact that stress in the workplace gives employees an increased risk of anxiety, burnout, depression, and substance abuse disorders. Stressed out workers are also more likely to reach for unhealthy coping mechanisms such as cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, and eating an unhealthy diet. Unhappy employees are also more likely to leave, of course, and no boss wants to have to deal with high turnover rates. But unfortunately, stress can spread like a wildfire in an office, Annie McKee writes for Harvard Business Review, so it’s best to know how to combat it and keep your stressed out boss from impacting your health too.
It’s important for employees to prioritize taking care of themselves
Image credits: Adrian Swancar (not the actual photo)
McKee says it’s crucial to focus on ourselves, rather than taking on the impossible task of trying to fix a high-strung boss. “Take some time to consciously try to recognize and understand the emotional state your boss is feeling,” she writes. “Engage in perspective taking by deliberately trying to see the world, events—and yourself—through your boss’s eyes. Empathy, by the way, is a key emotional intelligence competency.” In this particular case on Reddit, it was actually this accountant’s colleagues who were making the environment hostile, rather than his employer. But the same principle stands: we can’t fix others, but we can keep ourselves calm and ensure that we don’t buckle under the pressure of being around toxic people.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this story in the comments below, pandas. Do you think this accountant was right to maliciously comply with orders and dangle a carrot in front of his new colleague? Or would you have gone about handling the situation differently? Feel free to share, and then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article discussing malicious compliance in the workplace, we recommend checking out this one next!
Some readers were skeptical of the story and unimpressed with the accountant’s actions
However, some in payroll shared similar stories
And others shared their thoughts on the saga
Lol, this is NOT good nor is it ‘malicious compliance’. Sensitive information deliberately left on an unsecured computer in a public space? Live payroll data? In a spiteful passive-aggressive act of pettiness? Sounds like OP has worked in the same ‘laid-back’ place for too long and has learned A LOT of bad habits which they mistakenly believe are standard industry practice. Why is OP angry? Because there's a dress code now, or they have to deal with people they don't like at work? Grow up. Stinks of professional misconduct and the company has every right to dismiss OP on the spot for negligence. In some places, what OP did is a criminal offence.
Grow up? Stinks of professional misconduct? Know what really stinks of professional misconduct? People going through your personal belongings when they have no right to. And even worse, the company not taking any measures to stop them despite being told about it. With practices like that, hopefully the whole company burns down.
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I worked in payroll programming for 20 years. Always sensitive data. There are several features to save your screen when you leave - like lock screen, put a password on screensaver, checking out your user and others. Minimizing the screens is NOT a sufficient safety procedure, it nearly invites to snooping. And would have been a valid reason for job termination.
Did you miss the point? He clearly KNOWS about data protection methods... He didn't use any on purpose to f**k over the people making him do something that's not his job. And from the sounds of it.... I HIGHLY doubt he gives a s**t about job termination considering that he is the only one who knows how to do what he does, and is clearly having problems with other coworkers that AREN'T getting solved.
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At my job, this act would have lead to termination. I work from home and my job is in Worker’s Comp where we deal with patient data, and even working remotely in our own homes, we’re expected to keep our computers secure, not even our babies should be seeing the info we’re dealing with. This was a petty act on your part and you should have been reprimanded at the very least. Discussing or revealing salaries is never encouraged.
Except, he never discussed or revealed them ... he left that for somebody else to do and shoot himself in the foot doing so ...
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Not believing a word of this one. Leaving sensitive employee payroll information on an unlocked computer would be a sackable offence. If this really happened and the manager already hated him, he would have been fired immediately.
Jeebus, that's about 148 GDPR violations! When I do payroll I lock the screen even to go and get a drink, and I work from home!
This is absolute rubbish and if it happened it would be the employer on the chopping block due to leaving a work station in a public area (reception) with a list of ALL employee's details. In no job are you getting away with that whether your the only that knows payroll or not. I smell utter b******t and fantasy
This is a very, very long story about a jerk who works with other jerks. If any article needed a "TL;DR" version it's this one.
I have absolutely no tolerance for what OP did. Privacy and the protection of private and confidential information is something that's never to be trifled with. I'd have left the company too. Not because of my salary but because my coworker, in some stupid attempt to spite everyone, deliberately put my personal information and that of others at risk. I'm the first to admit that a bit of pettiness feels absolutely great but there are limits to that, especially when private and confidential information is involved. I don't know where OP comes from or which country they are based in but where I come from what OP did is a criminal offence.
It should be company policy that you lock your computer any time you walk away from it, even for one minute. Everything you do involves personal data. A coworker could use that information from your computer to help themselves to a client's financial accounts and guess who would be blamed when it was traced back to you being the person who had that information! You would end up facing a legal nightmare and your company would have their reputation completely trashed, possibly to the point of having to shut down. How were you not fired?
I would have summarily fired snooper and her. Hell, our payroll and HR people have tempested screens (you can only view them from directly in front) and they're quite nippy about information getting out.
OP would've been fired for allowing payroll info on an unlocked screen. It's not funny, it's a liability as it usually includes personal & private info, like SSNs. But getting payroll done on time isn't a joke either. At my previous company, unless it was an emergency payroll was not to be bothered nor were any requested to be expected to be responded to until it's completed. Also, a consulting firm I used to work for had a habit of buying smaller firms for both their clients & expertise. These were usually owned by one of two people who then got paid as well as equity in our firm. What I never understood were the employees being pissy with us about getting bought when it's their bosses that agreed to sell.
I saw this again and I am shaking my head over you not being fired. You were so confident that Snooper McSnoops was going to look at your files that the company trusted you to keep confident, then deliberately only minimized them to make it easy for him to access them? I'm pretty sure that could be considered a crime and would definitely open you and your employer up to lawsuits from everyone whose records were exposed.
What is it with managers who think they know best? I'm a manager and if I can't do it, I learn and help out, I would have sat on reception while you did what you needed to do, in the security of your office.
NOPE. Will NOT support OP. He knowingly left private information available on his computer. Guess he was nit intelligent enough to password protect computer, or else HE KNEW he was putting personal information at risk, probably including SSN. I'd fire his a**
The real issue to me is why wasn't the accountant with the least seniority put on front desk duty? Poo runs downhill and it should have rolled past more senior accountants like the OP and landed on the office's lowest ranking accountant.
Why, oh why, do people mess with the folks that take care of or control the money? JUST PLAIN STUPID!
Oh yeah, WTF are you doing in my office in the first place, hmmm? Bet the other “boss” instruct them to do that snooping. Oops Daisy, got caught!
Amen, my friend. Do you really want to mess with the one person who controls your paycheck? Think not, choose another hill to die on idiots!
As a fellow payroller I find this incredibly frustrating and demeaning to payroll in general. The amount of times payroll gets pushed around, assigned duties that clash to payrolling and in general people seeing your profession as something anyone can do with no skills is so disrespectful. So much work goes into payroll and you just get disrespected on daily basis. Nevermind if anyone gets paid 'wrong' you get complained at but no one says thank you. Ever.
Lol, this is NOT good nor is it ‘malicious compliance’. Sensitive information deliberately left on an unsecured computer in a public space? Live payroll data? In a spiteful passive-aggressive act of pettiness? Sounds like OP has worked in the same ‘laid-back’ place for too long and has learned A LOT of bad habits which they mistakenly believe are standard industry practice. Why is OP angry? Because there's a dress code now, or they have to deal with people they don't like at work? Grow up. Stinks of professional misconduct and the company has every right to dismiss OP on the spot for negligence. In some places, what OP did is a criminal offence.
Grow up? Stinks of professional misconduct? Know what really stinks of professional misconduct? People going through your personal belongings when they have no right to. And even worse, the company not taking any measures to stop them despite being told about it. With practices like that, hopefully the whole company burns down.
Load More Replies... I worked in payroll programming for 20 years. Always sensitive data. There are several features to save your screen when you leave - like lock screen, put a password on screensaver, checking out your user and others. Minimizing the screens is NOT a sufficient safety procedure, it nearly invites to snooping. And would have been a valid reason for job termination.
Did you miss the point? He clearly KNOWS about data protection methods... He didn't use any on purpose to f**k over the people making him do something that's not his job. And from the sounds of it.... I HIGHLY doubt he gives a s**t about job termination considering that he is the only one who knows how to do what he does, and is clearly having problems with other coworkers that AREN'T getting solved.
Load More Replies... At my job, this act would have lead to termination. I work from home and my job is in Worker’s Comp where we deal with patient data, and even working remotely in our own homes, we’re expected to keep our computers secure, not even our babies should be seeing the info we’re dealing with. This was a petty act on your part and you should have been reprimanded at the very least. Discussing or revealing salaries is never encouraged.
Except, he never discussed or revealed them ... he left that for somebody else to do and shoot himself in the foot doing so ...
Load More Replies... Not believing a word of this one. Leaving sensitive employee payroll information on an unlocked computer would be a sackable offence. If this really happened and the manager already hated him, he would have been fired immediately.
Jeebus, that's about 148 GDPR violations! When I do payroll I lock the screen even to go and get a drink, and I work from home!
This is absolute rubbish and if it happened it would be the employer on the chopping block due to leaving a work station in a public area (reception) with a list of ALL employee's details. In no job are you getting away with that whether your the only that knows payroll or not. I smell utter b******t and fantasy
This is a very, very long story about a jerk who works with other jerks. If any article needed a "TL;DR" version it's this one.
I have absolutely no tolerance for what OP did. Privacy and the protection of private and confidential information is something that's never to be trifled with. I'd have left the company too. Not because of my salary but because my coworker, in some stupid attempt to spite everyone, deliberately put my personal information and that of others at risk. I'm the first to admit that a bit of pettiness feels absolutely great but there are limits to that, especially when private and confidential information is involved. I don't know where OP comes from or which country they are based in but where I come from what OP did is a criminal offence.
It should be company policy that you lock your computer any time you walk away from it, even for one minute. Everything you do involves personal data. A coworker could use that information from your computer to help themselves to a client's financial accounts and guess who would be blamed when it was traced back to you being the person who had that information! You would end up facing a legal nightmare and your company would have their reputation completely trashed, possibly to the point of having to shut down. How were you not fired?
I would have summarily fired snooper and her. Hell, our payroll and HR people have tempested screens (you can only view them from directly in front) and they're quite nippy about information getting out.
OP would've been fired for allowing payroll info on an unlocked screen. It's not funny, it's a liability as it usually includes personal & private info, like SSNs. But getting payroll done on time isn't a joke either. At my previous company, unless it was an emergency payroll was not to be bothered nor were any requested to be expected to be responded to until it's completed. Also, a consulting firm I used to work for had a habit of buying smaller firms for both their clients & expertise. These were usually owned by one of two people who then got paid as well as equity in our firm. What I never understood were the employees being pissy with us about getting bought when it's their bosses that agreed to sell.
I saw this again and I am shaking my head over you not being fired. You were so confident that Snooper McSnoops was going to look at your files that the company trusted you to keep confident, then deliberately only minimized them to make it easy for him to access them? I'm pretty sure that could be considered a crime and would definitely open you and your employer up to lawsuits from everyone whose records were exposed.
What is it with managers who think they know best? I'm a manager and if I can't do it, I learn and help out, I would have sat on reception while you did what you needed to do, in the security of your office.
NOPE. Will NOT support OP. He knowingly left private information available on his computer. Guess he was nit intelligent enough to password protect computer, or else HE KNEW he was putting personal information at risk, probably including SSN. I'd fire his a**
The real issue to me is why wasn't the accountant with the least seniority put on front desk duty? Poo runs downhill and it should have rolled past more senior accountants like the OP and landed on the office's lowest ranking accountant.
Why, oh why, do people mess with the folks that take care of or control the money? JUST PLAIN STUPID!
Oh yeah, WTF are you doing in my office in the first place, hmmm? Bet the other “boss” instruct them to do that snooping. Oops Daisy, got caught!
Amen, my friend. Do you really want to mess with the one person who controls your paycheck? Think not, choose another hill to die on idiots!
As a fellow payroller I find this incredibly frustrating and demeaning to payroll in general. The amount of times payroll gets pushed around, assigned duties that clash to payrolling and in general people seeing your profession as something anyone can do with no skills is so disrespectful. So much work goes into payroll and you just get disrespected on daily basis. Nevermind if anyone gets paid 'wrong' you get complained at but no one says thank you. Ever.
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