Have you ever done “quiet quitting” even if you didn’t call it that?

Refusing to do overtime
Refusing extra responsibility or promotion opportunities
Not answering calls or emails outside work time
Working the exact hours one is paid for
Not volunteering for anything
Not attending works social events (outside working hours)

It was difficult as a teacher not to prepare lessons over and above the time I was paid for, but apart from that I have often throughout my working life refused to do overtime, said no thank you to social activities I was not paid for attending, refused politely to do overtime unless I was paid at least time and a half and only volunteered for things I was interested in doing.

And I was never interested in promotion or increased responsiblity - I just got on with my job.

There is obviously a very great difference between working in the UK and working in Denmark, as no-one here thought I as difficult to get on with, or could reasonably have fired me for adhereing to the above. My union would have supported me if I had been fired on any of the above grounds.

pen50 are you a teacher? Christmas will be here before you know it. Hope the time goes quickly for you until then. 💐

I can't see much wrong with quiet quitting, especially if your mental health and work-life balance depends on it. Too many good people are exploited by their work places and bosses who don't care if they get ill with stress and anxiety, or even die.

I quit quietly, and it was due to combining the pressures of caring, working full time in a highly pressurised job and an unsympathetic employer. All my routine dental and gp appointments, and my husband's various medical appointments had to be arranged if possible outside my working hours, or I had to use my leave. This invariably left me with less time for my own r&r. I took early retirement at 60, because of my husband's progressive condition which made it impossible to continue. I find it extremely upsetting that people judge your work ethic, when they have no idea of your circumstances.

Germanshepherdsmum

I would have hated to work with you BL. The proliferation of that attitude was one of the reasons why I left local government. You would not have been suited to a career in the law.

That is quite rude.

I don’t understand many of these replies. If your job cannot be done in the hour you are paid for, you are being exploited. Also, I would never take a wok call at home or read emails in the evening. Sort out your work life balance. We do not live to work!

Luckygirl3 --- Completely agree with you!

I quit silently, my health was poor and travel to work exacerbated the issue and made it hard to function. I asked for reasonable adjustments but none were good enough and what I really needed wasn't provided as they couldn't get their act together and seemed to think I could cope if I tried harder (as if I wasn't already). The adjustments didn't enable me to do a good job - standing on a train and tube for an hour and a half each way aggravated an existing problem to the extent I wasn't able to function at a level I felt comfortable with any more. I asked to see an occupational health doctor who said I was unfit for work and I shouldn't go in to work at all. I'd never taken sick leave and the employers were quite shocked, asked for a second opinion, who said the same. So I guess I didn't even quietly quit, I just vanished silently.... with an enhanced pension as unfit for any sort of work. Normally I put a lot into a job and looking back think that's not always the best thing, work should be enjoyable but not become your whole life.

I would have hated to work with you BL. The proliferation of that attitude was one of the reasons why I left local government. You would not have been suited to a career in the law.

I was going to retire at the end of April but due to significant senior staff changes at work I offered to stay on, part time (3/5(, to the end of this year. Unfortunately it was on the understanding that there would be another member of staff to take on some of my work - and it hasn't happened. So rather than my previous habit of being paid for 35 hours and working 45, I'm being paid for 21, working 30, and worrying about the rest. No quiet quitting for me ☹️. But I am bloody well stopping after Christmas whether they like it or not.

I don’t agree dragonfly, not in my old job as a project manager. My clients knew I’d there was an important communication expected, I’d address it, whatever time it was. But they also knew if I needed to attend to a personal matter, I’d not be available, swings and roundabouts with clear communication and trust on both sides.

I really don't see working to rule as any sort of quitting.

I don't understand people who accept that while ordinary workers are blackmailed to do loads of extra work for no payment or credit, MPs take time off from a well paid full time job in order to be given huge sums for a few hours theoretical input, which seems to mostly consist of misusing influence.

*When we lived in the Netherlands the work ethic was very similar. You worked the hours you were paid for and no more. You did not check emails outside of office hours either. In fact it was thought that if you needed to work extra hours on your job you were not capable of doing the job properly.
It is a completely different way of thinking and much healthier in my opinion*

Agree 100%

It depends upon whether you "work to live" or "Live to work". Quiet quitting isnt just about getting back at the employer. Its also about protecting yourself against stress and burnout. No job is worth that. Unless you want to be the hardest working person in the graveyard.

If the work piles up then its up to the organization to hire in more staff or to come up with some other way of doing things. Employees who regularly work unpaid overtime are simply subbing out poor management practices.

That certainly doesn’t apply to my son’s partners and colleagues in his law firm’s Amsterdam office! Nor in any of their other offices here and in other countries.

When we lived in the Netherlands the work ethic was very similar. You worked the hours you were paid for and no more. You did not check emails outside of office hours either. In fact it was thought that if you needed to work extra hours on your job you were not capable of doing the job properly.
It is a completely different way of thinking and much healthier in my opinion.
Families all sat down to eat together at 6pm and then went on to spend leisure time as a family.
There they work to live not the other way around.

Of course it could have changed now as this was back in the 19 hundreds!

How do those share token things work? I have no idea, but people use them all over the internet. If someone can tell me I will post the link again (I'm going out in a minute though, so it will be later this afternoon, unless someone else can do it first).

And yes, Iam. that was the gist of the article.

I couldn’t read because of the pay wall. I wonder if the question of over work, low morale, the way our government t since austerity began, paints public sector workers as having it easy has been considered

Article in The Telegraph about ‘quiet quitting.

www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/13/epidemic-public-sector-quiet-quitting/

Marydoll, I confess to being involved in labelling a group who got out of safeguarding as the caravan gang. They avoided anything difficult, and went caravaning. What an unpleasant thing, to dismiss colleagues but they worked 9-5 and avoided anything complex or demanding of more than a superficial look

When I was teaching I had two colleagues, whom we called the handbag brigade.
They were on retained, enhanced salaries, after the senior teacher role disappeared and a new structure was introduced. They refused to take on the equivalent role (which was their right) and any additional duties, came in at 8.55am had a full lunch break, and left at 3.05pm, with only their handbag.
I could never work out how they managed to do all the prep and admin, without taking anything home or staying late.

I agree with Doodledog, I would really dislike working with people who had this attitude.
We are a small company, and on the whole, everyone is flexible, something needs doing, they do it.
My husband has always had the attitude that he will pitch in and do anything, and would never expect anyone to do something he wasn’t prepared to do.

The two older senior practitioners on my team as a newly qualified worker were inspirational. The were happy to share knowledge and experience, to offer support to less experienced or worried colleagues. I tried to follow their example in the period when I was heading for retirement.

I follow this with interest. I decided, for health reasons, in my last 2 years as a community nurse, that I would only do 2 hours a day unpaid overtime. I still supported my colleagues, and cared for my patients as well as I could. I worked 30 hours a week over 4 days paid, did an hour extra at the beginning and end of each work day, and took no work home.
It only helped a bit - I was very anxious about what I couldn't do.

I agree Norah. Doodledog’s way of working is infinitely better than the ‘doing strictly what I have to do’ approach. And you never know when you might need help from a colleague. I can’t imagine leaving someone else’s work while they are away. Very selfish and what goes around comes around.

I love that, sodapop .