Rules - Are They Made To Be Broken?

I was reading an article from my professional magazine which shared some of the feedback from the networking website Reddit in responce to the question 'What's the dummest rule your workplace has ever enforced?' 

 

Here are some of the most unbelievable responses .. you do have to hope they aren't true!! 

 

 

'We cannot drink coffee after 2pm. They insisted that drinking it in the afternoon is wasteful.' 

 

'I had a job once where you could only sharpen pencils with the mechanical pencil sharpener during certain times. It was a weird rule!' 

 

'Can't grow any facial hair except for a moustache' 

 

'I was asked to take off my pink shirt on anti-bullying day because it wasn't appropriate for a manager' 

 

'When I worked in a call centre (there was ) no getting up or standing .. (we) had to sit .. so 5.5 hours of sitting down between last break and getting off work' 

 

I work in a kitchen training on the line. The chefs often give me food but tell me I have to eat it without them seeing or I'll get yelled at.. Makes such little sense' 

 

 

So it is worth looking at your rules to see if they are reasonable and lawful. There has been a lot in the press about dress codes for female staff which might well lead to discrimination claims. 

 

I think the test for me is always the one that goes ' If this case was in front of an Employment Tribunal Judge, would they think I had been fair and reasonable?' 

 

'If it is fair and reasonable, do I have a real and genuine reason for having the rule in place?' 

 

I doubt very much if any of those rules outlined above would measure up to my test? What do you think? 

 

Have you come across any curious or quite simply nonsensical rules? 

I'd love to hear from you.