Boss Refuses To Swap Employee To Day Shift, Then Approves 20 Hours Of Overtime By Accident

Corporate logic can be a beautiful thing, especially when it collapses under its own weight. One aviation worker was preparing for an overseas transfer but couldn’t reach HR during his late shift.

When he asked to switch temporarily to day hours, his boss said no and told him to “just handle it from home.” So he did, by logging every single minute he worked outside his scheduled shift.

A week later, management discovered 20 hours of overtime, demanded answers, and watched the boss turn red as a fire truck when the worker produced the approving email. The punishment? A promotion to day shift.

One clever aviation tech turned a shift-snub into sanctioned overtime gold

Strict overtime bans often backfire and this story shows exactly why. The OP’s aviation company had a “no OT under any circumstances” rule, with upper management micromanaging every charged minute.

But when the OP requested to switch from the night shift to day shift to handle HR logistics for an international transfer, their supervisor refused, insisting they could “just do it from home.” That single email became the key to one of the cleanest examples of corporate self-sabotage.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), any work performed outside a scheduled shift, including tasks done from home, must still be paid, often with overtime rates if it exceeds 40 hours per week.

The OP did exactly what the supervisor said: began working early, logged every minute, and ensured the company’s systems captured all login data. Within a week, nearly 20 hours of overtime appeared in the system, perfectly documented and fully compliant with both law and policy.

When management confronted the OP, the supervisor tried to deny granting permission, but that fateful email told a different story.

With proof in hand, the site manager approved the overtime and immediately moved the OP to day shift. It’s a textbook case of malicious compliance, following instructions to the letter until the system exposes its own flaws.

Employment experts say this type of rigid oversight often leads to burnout and turnover. “When companies enforce blanket rules without considering operational realities, employees disengage or find creative ways to highlight the dysfunction,” explains Dr. Ben Wigert of Gallup’s Workplace Research Division.

In the end, the OP didn’t break any rules, they simply used the company’s own policies against it. And by the time management realized their mistake, the damage was already done.

The lesson? If you treat your staff like time thieves instead of professionals, don’t be surprised when they start charging you for every minute of your poor decisions.

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

This group highlighted the irony and satisfaction in the OP’s story

These commenters focused on proper management policies and praised the story’s structure

This group shared amusement at the outcome and commended OP for standing their ground

These Redditors drove home the central message: never work for free

This final group appreciated the petty brilliance and professionalism of having a clear paper trail to protect oneself

Would you have CC’d site manager upfront or let the surprise hit? Ever turned “at home” into payday? Drop your logbook lore below!