Work-to-rule: Difference between revisions

'''Work-to-rule''' is an [[industrial action]] in which [[employee]]s do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract, and precisely follow all safety or other regulations, which may cause a [[slowdown]] or decrease in productivity, as they are no longer working during breaks or during unpaid extended hours and weekends (checking email, for instance).<ref>{{cite book | title = Images of Organization| author= Gareth Morgan |publisher = Sage Publications | location= Thousand Oaks, California |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a_W8jXt4_eMC&pg=PA165&dq=work-to-rule&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Sz3iT_bPOIXK2AXVho3jCw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=work-to-rule&f=false | date = 1998 | page = 165 | isbn = 0-7619-1752-7 | accessdate = 20 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Air Canada Hit By Work-to-Rule | newspaper = The Sun | location = Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | pages = 1–2 | date = 9 December 1968 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uJZlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yooNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6026,3158040&dq=work-to-rule&hl=en | accessdate = 20 June 2012}}</ref> Such an action is considered less disruptive than a [[Strike action|strike]] or [[lockout (industry)|lockout]], and obeying the rules is less susceptible to disciplinary action. Notable examples have included nurses refusing to answer telephones, teachers refusing to work for free at night and during weekends and holidays, and police officers refusing to issue citations. Refusal to work overtime, travel on duty, or sign up to other tasks requiring employee assent are other manifestations of using work-to-rule as [[industrial action]].