17 Ridiculous Office Rules That Companies Actually Enforce

"My place of employment only lets staff drink water from small cups, and you must drink the whole cup immediately, then dispose of the cup. You are not allowed to have water bottles on shift, no matter which part of the store you are working in. If you are on break (unpaid time) you cannot purchase a bottle of water, even if you drink all of it and dispose of the bottle before you come back on shift."

Source: Reddit

"We are incapable of sending emails from our work accounts without selecting what the email is for. To send it, we have to select from a drop-down menu things like 'casual memo' or 'request for time off...It's relatively new, so I think they're going to revert it, because everyone, especially lower management is going nuts over how absurd it is."

Source: Reddit

"Want to slide a desk across the room? Can't. That is violating union rules...You have to call and schedule the movers."

Source: Reddit

"At my work there are signs on the printers that say the warranty will be void if the printer is turned off."

Source: Reddit

"I need to tell the receptionist where I'm going when I leave the office and inform her of my return as I walk past her. I'm an attorney for Christ's sake; I had more autonomy in undergrad."

Source: Reddit

"I used to work for a ritzy cafe that had five separate and distinct beard rules. Beards had to be between a certain length or you had to shave it. No mutton chops. There were rules about mustache/beard combos. If you wanted to grow a beard, you were not allowed back into work for two weeks until you grew it out to a 'respectable length.'" 

Source: Reddit

"At my former job we weren't allowed to 'grow' facial hair. So we were allowed to either have no facial hair at all, or have a FULLY grown moustache. Our manager told us if we wanted to have a moustache, we would have to go on vacation, grow a stash, and come back from our vacation with a fully grown moustache. So on the next day we all showed up wearing fake mustaches."

Source: Reddit

"My office was near a large meeting room, and one day I passed by an unguarded cart. Half an hour later, I passed by it in the other direction. An hour later, I saw it was still there, untouched. So I went an snatched a cookie. This tiny little woman made me spit out the half of a cookie I already had in my mouth into a napkin in her hand like a I was a 4-year-old spitting out a bug or something."

Source: Reddit

"I used to work at Elephant Auto Insurance, and they are ridiculous about their timestamps. ... You are allowed one fifteen minute break at 10:30. You are allowed your lunch at 1:00, and you are allowed one more fifteen minute break at 3:30. If you are ONE MINUTE late coming back from any of those three things, you are immediately written up."

Source: Reddit

"When working as a messenger at a law firm we had to use a dolly for everything. Moving a single box without a dolly was breaking the rules. Well, since I am not a tiny girl. ... I would carry several boxes of paper around with me when resupplying the copy and fax machines. They eventually fired me over it."

Source: Reddit

"I work in a warehouse. No hats. It's cold here in the winter and the poor bald guys can't wear hats."

Source: Reddit

"Where I started working about two months ago, there's a serious, strict 'no popcorn' rule. This applies to popcorn that's cooked elsewhere and brought in (such as movie theatre) and popcorn cooked in the microwave. There was a strongly worded email from the big boss that circulated two years ago outlawing popcorn. I was informed in my first two weeks when said email was forwarded to me by a colleague. The reason given in the email was 'has anyone ever tried to talk on the phone and eat popcorn?'"

Source: Reddit

"No cell phone shaped objects in your pockets at work. At first I thought it was a typo, then they started to write people up for wallets, packs of gum, and other rectangular shapes in our pockets."

Source: Reddit 

"I used to work in a government department, and people used to keep snacks on their desk while working, because we're human. The employer implemented 'lean working' so every desk had to be totally empty, except for select items that had to be arranged in a certain way (pens had to be to the upper left of the keyboard, I think). This rule forbid food items, but allowed one 'personal item.' One staff member had a banana in a banana case as her personal item. She was told to put it away."

Source: Reddit

"Someone at work sneezed and another one said 'bless you!' A third party heard it and complained to HR about it. Guy who said 'bless you' was given a warning and had to take a course in professionalism."

Source: Reddit

"No smoking in your own personal vehicle while traveling between locations."

Source: Reddit

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