Work-to-rule

Work-to-rule may be employed formally or informally by workers and organizers as an alternative to traditional strike action in contexts where strikes are prohibited, either by law or due to lack of workforce union participation or political will. Work-to-rule has been employed in sectors where striking is prohibited, including education,{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=David R. |date=December 2011 |title=Do Strikes and Work-to-Rule Campaigns Change Elementary School Assessment Results? |url=https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/cpp.37.4.479 |journal=Canadian Public Policy |language=en |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=479–494 |doi=10.3138/cpp.37.4.479 |issn=0317-0861|url-access=subscription }} policing,{{Cite news |date=1971-01-28 |title=INJUNCTION ENDS A POLICE STRIKE |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/28/archives/injunction-ends-a-police-strike-milwaukee-blue-flu-over-after-4day.html |access-date=2023-04-06 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Sestanovich |first=Clare |date=2015-01-06 |title=A Short History of Police Protest |url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/01/06/a-short-history-of-police-protest |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=The Marshall Project |language=en}} and healthcare,{{Cite journal |last=Tuffs |first=A. |date=2003-02-08 |title=German doctors "work to rule" in protest at government plans |url=https://www.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmj.326.7384.303 |journal=BMJ |volume=326 |issue=7384 |pages=303 |doi=10.1136/bmj.326.7384.303|s2cid=71455189 |url-access=subscription }} as well as in authoritarian societies like Russia, which prohibit strikes generally.{{Cite journal |last=Р |first=Ахмадуллин Ильдар |date=2020-12-18 |title=Итальянские забастовки в России |url=https://ras.jes.su/socis/s013216250009284-5-1 |journal=Социологические исследования |language=ru |issue=10 |pages=95–105 |doi=10.31857/S013216250009284-5 |s2cid=234678765 |issn=0132-1625|url-access=subscription }} In this respect, work-to-rule tactics can resemble other forms of industrial action such as an overtime ban or blue flu.

Quiet quitting is a specific, often spontaneous or grassroots application of work-to-rule tactics.{{cite web |title=Column: 'Quiet quitting' is just a new name for an old reality |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-08-25/quiet-quitting-is-just-a-new-name-for-an-ancient-reality |website=Los Angeles Times |date=25 August 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Lord |first1=Jonathan |title=Quiet quitting is a new name for an old method of industrial action |url=https://theconversation.com/quiet-quitting-is-a-new-name-for-an-old-method-of-industrial-action-189752 |website=The Conversation |date=9 September 2022 |language=en}} Despite the name, the philosophy of quiet quitting is not connected to quitting a job outright, but rather, employees avoid going above and beyond at work by doing the bare minimum required and engage in work-related activities solely within defined work hours.Multiple sources:

• {{Cite web |first=James |last=Tapper |date=2022-08-06 |title=Quiet quitting: why doing the bare minimum at work has gone global |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/aug/06/quiet-quitting-why-doing-the-bare-minimum-at-work-has-gone-global |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
• {{Cite web |last=Bakshi |first=Pema |title=In Defence Of 'Quiet Quitting' Your Job |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/quiet-quitting-job |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=www.refinery29.com |language=en-GB}}
• {{Cite web |last=Scott |first=Ellen |date=2022-07-29 |title=Could 'quiet quitting' your job be the answer to burnout? What you need to know |url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/29/could-the-quiet-quitting-trend-be-the-answer-to-burnout-what-you-need-to-know-17085827/ |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=Metro |language=en}}
• {{Cite news |last=Yang |first=Lindsay Ellis and Angela |date=2022-08-12 |title=If Your Co-Workers Are 'Quiet Quitting,' Here's What That Means |language=en-US |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-your-gen-z-co-workers-are-quiet-quitting-heres-what-that-means-11660260608 }} Proponents of quiet quitting also refer to it as "acting your wage",{{cite news |title=Business |url=https://www.economist.com/the-world-this-week/2022/09/01/business |newspaper=The Economist |date=1 September 2022 }} or "calibrated contributing",{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|2755632700}} |last1=Reddy |first1=Venk |title=Quiet Quitting? Quiet Firing? More Like Quiet Retiring |url=https://www.gurufocus.com/news/1913128/quiet-quitting-quiet-firing-more-like-quiet-retiring |work=GuruFocus |agency=Osterweis Capital Management |date=19 December 2022 }} and say that the goal of quiet quitting is not primarily to disrupt the workplace as part of an organized movement, but to avoid occupational burnout and to reassert autonomy and work-life balance on an individual level.

There are no verifiable sources as to who coined the phrase.{{Cite web |last=Hitt |first=Tarpley |date=2020-10-10 |title=The Libertarian Who Supposedly Coined 'Quiet Quitting' |url=https://www.gawker.com/news/the-libertarian-who-supposedly-coined-quiet-quitting |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004222408/https://www.gawker.com/news/the-libertarian-who-supposedly-coined-quiet-quitting |archive-date=2023-10-04 |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=Gawker}} It was also thought to be inspired by the tang ping ("lying flat") movement that began in April 2021 on Chinese social media and became a buzzword on Sina Weibo.{{cite news|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62638908|title=Quiet quitting: The workplace trend taking over TikTok|author=Perisha Kudhail|date=31 August 2022}}{{cite news|newspaper=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/07/workers-embrace-bare-minimum-quiet-quitting-trend/|title=Workers embrace the bare minimum in 'quiet quitting' trend|date=7 August 2022|author=Henry Bodkin}}{{cite web |title= China's new 'tang ping' trend aims to highlight pressures of work culture |date =June 3, 2021 |publisher=BBC |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57348406}} Later that year, Chinese Internet users combined tang ping with involution, a process researched by American anthropologist Clifford Geertz in his 1963 book Agricultural Involution. The book gained attention in the late 1980s from social sciences research about China which led to the term "involution" gaining great attention in China.{{cite web |title=Tang ping: the Chinese millennials lying flat to protest against overwork |first=Ariane |last=Picoche |date=2022-01-17 |url=https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/tang-ping-chinese-milennials-protest-overwork |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=Welcome to the Jungle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928133445/https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/tang-ping-chinese-milennials-protest-overwork |archive-date=2022-09-28}} In 2020, "involution" became one of the most commonly used words on Chinese-language media, where it is used to describe the feeling of exhaustion in an overly competitive society.{{cite magazine |last1=Liu |first1=Yi-Ling |date=2021-05-14 |title=China's "Involuted" Generation |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/chinas-involuted-generation |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=2022-03-28}}{{cite magazine |last1=Wang |first1=Qianni |last2=Ge |first2=Shifan |date=2020-11-04 |title=How One Obscure Word Captures Urban China's Unhappiness |url=https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006391/how-one-obscure-word-captures-urban-chinas-unhappiness |magazine=Sixth Tone |access-date=2022-03-28}}

After tang ping became a buzzword and inspired numerous Internet memes, business magazine ABC Money claimed it resonated with a growing silent majority of youth disillusioned by the officially endorsed "Chinese Dream" that encourages a life of hard work and sacrifice with no actual life satisfaction to show for it.{{cn|date=February 2025}} An editorial published in the journal of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers defined quiet quitting as a rejection of "hustle culture" and the belief that value of work is intrinsically tied to number of hours.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-03 |title=Editorial: Reversing the Quiet Quitting Trend |url=https://www.aiche.org/resources/publications/cep/2022/october/editorial-reversing-quiet-quitting-trend |access-date=2023-03-22 |website=www.aiche.org |language=en}}

Though the term is recent, the ideas behind quiet quitting are not and go back decades.{{cite journal | last1 = Serenko | first1 = A. | year = 2024 | title = The human capital management perspective on quiet quitting: Recommendations for employees, managers, and national policymakers | journal = Journal of Knowledge Management | volume = 28 | issue = 1| pages = 27–43| url = https://www.aserenko.com/papers/QuietQuittingSerenkoJKM.pdf |doi = 10.1108/JKM-10-2022-0792 | s2cid = 258026195 }} The phrase "quiet quitting" became popular during 2022 in the United States, mostly through the social video platform TikTok.{{cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-your-gen-z-co-workers-are-quiet-quitting-heres-what-that-means-11660260608 | title=If Your Co-Workers Are 'Quiet Quitting,' Here's What That Means | newspaper=Wall Street Journal | date=12 August 2022 }} In 2022, quiet quitting experienced a surge in popularity in numerous publications following a viral TikTok video,{{cite news|first=Beth|last=Teitell|title=As quiet quitting goes viral, it's turning into the pumpkin spice of 2022.|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/16/business/quiet-quitting-season-1-brutally-honest-recap/|work=The Boston Globe|date=2022-09-16|access-date=2022-09-23}} which was inspired by a Business Insider article.{{cite news|first=Zachary M.|last=Seward|title=The guy who inspired the 'quiet quitting' movement is back to working 50 hours a week|url=https://qz.com/the-guy-who-inspired-the-quiet-quitting-movement-is-b-1849704130|work=Quartz|date=October 26, 2022|access-date=November 3, 2022}}

• {{cite news|first=Aki|last=Ito|title='My company is not my family': Fed up with long hours, many employees have quietly decided to take it easy at work rather than quit their jobs|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/overachievers-leaning-back-hustle-culture-coasting-employees-work|work=Business Insider|date=March 2, 2022|access-date=November 3, 2022}} That same year, Gallup found that roughly half of the American workforce were quiet quitters.{{Cite web |last=Harter |first=Jim |date=2022-09-06 |title=Is Quiet Quitting Real? |url=https://www.gallup.com/workplace/398306/quiet-quitting-real.aspx |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=Gallup.com |language=en}}

Industry observers argue the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the social movement of quiet quitting, with a resurgence in labor sentiments among Generation Z as a result of the economic fallout.{{cite journal |last1=Formica |first1=Sandro |last2=Sfodera |first2=Fabiola |date=17 November 2022 |title=The Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting paradigm shifts: An overview of current situation and future research directions |journal=Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management |volume=31 |issue=8 |pages=899–907 |doi=10.1080/19368623.2022.2136601 |s2cid=253077483}} A 2021 survey conducted by the American Psychological Association revealed that forty percent of American workers surveyed intend to change jobs, which the report attributed to lack of compensation for the amount of stress and burnout endured.{{Cite web |title=The American workforce faces compounding pressure: APA's 2021 Work and Well-being Survey results |url=https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-well-being/compounding-pressure-2021 |access-date=2023-03-22 |website=www.apa.org}} In 2023, a trend called quiet cutting was seen where employers would reassign rather than lay off employees, suggesting a possible shift in workplace power.{{cite web | last=Smith | first=Ray A. | title=You've Heard of Quiet Quitting. Now Companies Are Quiet Cutting. | website=WSJ | date=2023-08-28 | url=https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/youve-heard-of-quiet-quitting-now-companies-are-quiet-cutting-ba2c326d | access-date=2023-10-14}} It is possible that conscious quitting might follow quiet quitting.{{cite news |title='Conscious quitting' is the newest trend sweeping the workplace. Here's what leaders can do to avoid it |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/conscious-quitting-newest-trend-sweeping-122118047.html |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=Yahoo Finance}}{{cite news |last1=Song-Marshall |first1=Judy (Haejoo) |title=Council Post: How To Find A Job You Don't Need To 'Consciously Quit' |url=https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesnonprofitcouncil/2023/07/07/how-to-find-a-job-you-dont-need-to-consciously-quit/ |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=Forbes |language=en}}

{{More citations needed section|date=November 2022}}

While individual contributors might think in terms of otherwise "engaged workers setting reasonable boundaries", their employers might see them instead as "slackers who are willfully underperforming". Depending on jurisdiction, work-to-rule may sometimes be considered by employers as malicious compliance, and they may attempt to pursue legal action against workers. While generally not grounds for legal retaliation on an individual basis, employers may attempt to enforce onerous contract terms such as:

• Mandatory overtime
• Breaks set by management
• Vague description including "ad-hoc task" or "as assigned"
• Termination for any reason

They may also take standard forms of action especially where custom terms were not negotiated during the offer:

• Warning and noting employee file for professional misconduct or insubordination
• Reassigning employee to insignificant, routine, or mundane tasks

The employer counterpart of 'quiet quitting' is 'quiet firing', in which an employer deliberately offers only a minimum wage and benefits and denies any advances in the hope that an unwanted employee will quit.{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Karla L. |date=September 1, 2022 |title=After 'quiet quitting,' here comes 'quiet firing' |newspaper=The Washington Post |department=Business |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/quiet-quitting-and-firing/ |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220902130920/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/quiet-quitting-and-firing/ |archive-date=September 2, 2022}}{{Cite news |last=Borchers |first=Callum |date=29 September 2022 |title=Employers strike back at 'Quitters' |pages=A12 |work=The Wall Street Journal}} The term has also been used to refer to employers reducing the scope of a worker's responsibilities to encourage them to quit voluntarily.{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Karla L. |date=2022-09-08 |title=Actually, we've been 'quiet quitting' and 'quiet firing' for years |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/08/quiet-quitting-quiet-firing-what-to-do/ |accessdate=2022-09-12}} "Quiet hiring" is another related term that has been used to describe a strategy by employers to give additional responsibilities and unpaid extra workload to hard-working employees.{{cite web |last=Breen |first=Amanda |date=2022-09-09 |title=Google's 'Quiet Hiring' Method Is Bad News for 'Quiet Quitters' |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/googles-quiet-hiring-method-is-bad-news-for-quiet/435043 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=Entrepreneur}}

In countries or sectors where other forms of striking is regulated or illegal, work-to-rule tactics may be subject to scrutiny or punishment. In the United States, work-to-rule tactics which are coordinated by a labor organization or its agents may be ruled and treated as a strike under the National Labor Relations Act, and may be interpreted as failure to bargain in good faith, a requirement of collective bargaining.{{Cite web |title=National Labor Relations Act |url=https://www.nlrb.gov/guidance/key-reference-materials/national-labor-relations-act |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=www.nlrb.gov}}{{Cite web |title=Collective bargaining (Section 8(d) & 8(b)(3)) {{!}} National Labor Relations Board |url=https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/collective-bargaining-section-8d-8b3 |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=www.nlrb.gov}} In the case of non-union workplaces, employees suspected of work-to-rule tactics, organizing, or quiet quitting, may be fired if their employment is considered at-will, though such termination may still be considered wrongful if there is overt evidence it is done to infringe on workers' protected rights to organize.{{Cite web |title=employment-at-will doctrine |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/employment-at-will_doctrine |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}

Cases of work-to-rule tactics have included:

• British postal workers normally arrived an hour before their official start time, did unpaid overtime at the end of deliveries, used their own (uninsured) cars for deliveries, and carried mailbags too heavy by health and safety guidelines. During a dispute they arrived at start time, stopped deliveries at the end of their allotted shift, only used official vans, and weighed mailbags to keep within the limit.{{cite web | title=Royal Mail strikes suspended for talks as work to rule continues | website=libcom.org | date=10 August 2007 | url=https://libcom.org/article/royal-mail-strikes-suspended-talks-work-rule-continues}}
• French railway workers, who are not allowed to strike, were required by law to be sure of the safety of all bridges the train had to pass over; if doubtful of safety they had to consult other train crew members. During a dispute they inspected every bridge, and consulted; trains did not arrive on time.
• Austrian postal workers normally accept without weighing all items that are obviously not overweight. During a dispute they observed the rule that all mail must be weighed, taking it to the scales, weighing, and then taking it back. The office was crammed with unweighed mail by the second day.
• German doctors, who are not permitted to strike, have employed work to rule tactics in protest of announced caps on insurance reimbursement.
• Workers may have the right to a specified number of toilet breaks; they may insist on taking the maximum allowed during a dispute.
• During a work-to-rule strike, teachers may choose to instruct students during classroom hours only; and not participate in extra-curricular activities such as sports, tutoring or meetings before/after school.{{cite web|date=29 Nov 2016|title='No concerts, no meetings: what work-to-rule means for students and teachers' |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/teachers-work-to-rule-labour-contract-negotiations-education-1.3871527}} Such tactics are associated with a significant reduction in standardized test scores by students at affected schools.
• Actions taken by police in the United States, including coordinated use of sick days, and declines in tickets issued and arrests made, may resemble work to rule tactics, however the exact terminology is disputed, partly because police are prohibited from striking, partly because of the contentious relationship between police, police unions, and the labor movement as a whole.{{Cite news |last=Nolan |first=Hamilton |date=2020-06-13 |title=It's time to kick police unions out of the labor movement. They aren't allies |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/13/police-unions-afl-cio-labor-movement |access-date=2023-04-10 |issn=0261-3077}}
• In Paris, taxi drivers historically employed grève de zèle ("zeal strike") to protest municipal policies. By strictly adhering to the code routier (French traffic code), such as obeying all speed limits, refusing to use bus lanes, or stopping at every pedestrian crossing, drivers exploited the fact that Parisian traffic flow relies on routine, pragmatic violations of minor rules. Their collective over-compliance caused severe congestion, effectively paralyzing the city to pressure authorities.{{Cite news |date=1952-10-03 |title="Grève du zèle" des agents du métro et des autobus décident plusieurs syndicats |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1952/10/03/greve-du-zele-des-agents-du-metro-et-des-autobus-decident-plusieurs-syndicats_1996424_1819218.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |language=fr}}
• In 1984, French and Italian customs officers staged a work-to-rule tactic by meticulously inspecting every vehicle at border crossings, causing massive traffic jams. According to Belgian public broadcaster RTBF, these protests highlighted the inefficiency of systematic border checks and contributed to discussions that later led to the Schengen Agreement, which abolished many internal EU border controls.{{Cite web |title=Grève du zèle: quand la minutie devient un moyen de pression qui fait ses preuves (vidéos) |url=https://www.rtbf.be/article/greve-du-zele-quand-la-minutie-devient-un-moyen-de-pression-qui-fait-ses-preuves-videos-10437929 |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=RTBF |language=fr}}

Although the term quiet quitting was popularised in 2022,{{cite web |date=30 August 2022 |title='I was working 60 hours a week so I quiet quit' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62638908.amp}} aspects of quiet quitting have existed in the workplace and popular culture for much longer. The film Office Space (1999) depicts a character engaging in quiet quitting; in the film, Ron Livingston's character Peter Gibbons abandons the concept of work entirely and does the bare minimum required of him.{{Cite web |last=Albom |first=Mitch |date=2022-08-28 |title=Mitch Albom: The only thing new about quiet quitting is the name |url=https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/mitch-albom/2022/08/28/mitch-albom-the-only-thing-new-about-quiet-quitting-is-the-name/65460190007/ |access-date=2022-09-05 |work=Detroit Free Press}}

• Blue flu
• Career catfishing
• Shirking
• Malicious compliance
• Great Resignation
• Lazy girl job
• Overtime ban
• Tang ping
• Neijuan

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |url=https://libcom.org/organise/work-to-rule |title=Work-to-rule: a guide |publisher=libcom.org |date=11 November 2006 |access-date=12 January 2019}}
• {{cite web |url=https://tycoondocuments.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-job-seeker-visit-visa/ |title=12 Websites to find Jobs in Dubai |date=22 October 2024 |access-date=22 October 2024 |publisher=Tycoon Documents}}

{{Organized labor|sp=ox}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Labor disputes

Category:Protest tactics

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