Style with purpose

Homeowners associations have a bad reputation for being annoying as hell, and for good reason. Of course, not all HOAs enforce some of the dumbest rules imaginable, but there are enough painfully petty HOAs out there to tarnish the names of the rest. Stories like u/3-2-1-backup 's are a delight for anyone who absolutely hates their HOA. In a recent r/maliciouscompliance post, u/3-2-1-backup recounts the time he checked the oil of his car in his friend's driveway. It was an act that took all of…

Some bosses will literally hurt their own business before paying their employees what they're owed, and this redditor's story is a perfect example. When u/Longjumping_Bad9555 requested compensation for working sixty hours of overtime, their manager refused, arguing that the hours hadn't been authorized prior to the request. The thing is, OP was a reporter for a newspaper—the sort of high-paced job that doesn't often come with enough downtime to put in an OT request while chasing a news story. S…

Karens rarely think before they throw a tantrum—often resulting in an epic backfire—and the star Karen of this redditor's story is no exception. For some reason, OP's backyard shed offended their Karen neighbor so much that she snitched on them to the city for supposedly building a shed that was larger than the permitted maximum. Not only did an inspector ensure them that their shed wasn't breaking any rules, they found out through the experience that they could build an even bigger, better she…

What is it with companies that refuse to pay their workers an adequate salary and yet somehow still wonder why their employee turnover rate is absolute garbage? Surely it's not hard to understand that constantly rehiring and training new talent is a waste of time, money, and resources? When one redditor inquired about their company's subpar salary compared to competitors, the CEO literally laughed out loud and told their employees that if they find a better job, they'd better take it. Well that…

Few stories of malicious compliance are more satisfying than the ones where the complier outdoes the “ enforcer of rules” in a battle of pettiness, and this redditor's post is a perfect example. When OP decided to get rid of their car, they had no need for an assigned parking spot at their apartment complex, and so they asked their property manager to waive the monthly parking upcharge. Needless to say, the landlord gave ‘em the old “rules are rules” line and refused. Instead of eating the cost…

It's usually not easy to pursue your hobbies as a career. Most hobbies are hobbies for a reason, and that reason is that they're more fun to do than your job. Often, people work years and years to ever financially get into a position where they can leave their day job in pursuit of their hobbies. However, sometimes you get a golden opportunity to switch careers that you can't pass up. For Redditor u/the_anecdotist135 , this didn't come in the form of a competitive job offer or even a concrete o…

Sometimes you have to show a boss how stupid their request is by doing exactly what they say. In redditor u/SignSavings9270 's case, the request was so stupid, they actually got written up and literally charged with “malicious compliance” in a disciplinary hearing for doing as they were told. Let this be a lesson to everyone out there with an incompetent boss —if they tell you to do something ridiculous and counterproductive, make sure you get the request in writing.

Do you ever think about all the infrastructure that holds society together and wonder what Big Industry looks like behind the scenes? Turns out every trade has its idiots who somehow got to run the show and hire their idiot friends and relatives to do dangerous and critical jobs. According to one redditor's lengthy (and captivating) tale of malicious compliance, the energy sector is no exception. I don't know who needs to hear this, but you probably shouldn't fire the only person who knows how…

Do you pay an engineer for pressing buttons or do you pay an engineer for knowing which buttons to press? Definitely the latter, and some people learn that the hard way, like the sleazy customer in u/AwkLemon 's epic r/ProRevenge story. They thought they could get away with tricking a professional problem-solver into doing a day of free labor . They thought wrong.

Got 'em

Having a stupid boss usually means your work life is going to be much harder than it should be. But in one redditors case, having an incompetent boss really paid off. $900 per hour to be exact.

Slumlords are exploitative by nature, and in this lucky redditor's case, not very smart. After u/nopanicprepper experienced a series of plumbing issues in their home, they notified their absentee landlord , who refused to pay for any repairs. Instead, the landlord “allowed” OP to do the repairs since OP was an engineer. (How generous.) OP maliciously complied, and to the landlord's horror, sent over a hefty invoice for parts and labor. Keep scrolling for the whole story.

Wholesome malicious compliance

Homeowner associations ( HOAs ) get a pretty bad rap, especially on Reddit. There's even a whole subreddit called r/fuckHOA dedicated to seething stories about the various ways in which HOAs piss people off. One redditor recently shared their own tale of petty revenge on their HOA to r/MaliciousCompliance . When one of u/FirstContribution236 's neighbors (who happened to be on the HOA board) threatened to take action against OP for refusing to take down their security camera, OP opted for playi…

Some 'friend'