Dumb workplace rules
1. "No cellphone-shaped objects in your pockets at work," wrote one employer. "At first I thought it was a typo, then they started to write people up for wallets, packs of gum, and other rectangular shapes."
2. "Want to slide a desk across the room? Can't. That is violating union rules, and taking work away from the facilities team. You have to call and schedule the movers. Then they charge you for it."
3. "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. This rule forbade food items, but allowed one 'personal item'. One staff member had a banana in a banana case. She was told to put it away. She refused and took it further until it was ruled that because she wasn't eating it, it was an 'inactive banana' and thus a personal item. It only became active during the act of eating, at which point it became food."
4. "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 holiday and come back from it with a fully grown moustache."
