Work To Rule Research Paper

Work to rule is a form of industrial action used as a means of protest in the work place. It involves employees not going beyond their call of duty and strictly adhering to their duties specifically related to their job description and is accompanied by the need for management to give clear instructions and how they should be carried out. During the period of work to rule, employees will only carry out duties related to their job description which cause a decrease in the productivity levels within the organization. Employees do this to place pressure on management to listen to their grievances within the workplace.
An example of this is under nationalization, French railroad strikes were forbidden. Nonetheless, railroad workers found other
ways of expressing their grievances. One French law requires the engineer to assure the safety of any bridge over which the train must pass. If after a personal examination he is still doubtful, then he must consult other members of the train crew. Of course, every bridge was so inspected, every crew was so consulted, and none of the trains ran on time.
Work to rule is effective when the organization is at its height of production and employees engage in industrial action.
This will hamper the productivity levels within the organization which will put a damp on the revenue income in the organization. The employees will have knowledge of this and use it as a tactic in getting the managers of the organization to listen to their issues relating to the workplace. An example of this will be the out-patient clinic within a hospital not having any nurses or doctors attending to patients on a day that has the most outpatients to be seen. This will cause the patients to be very disturbed by the situation and the authorities will be mostly likely aware of the situation through the media. This will hamper the image of the organization and cause them to seek a quick solution to the issue that is causing the employees to work to rule.
Therefore, work to rule is an industrial action that is a tactic that is used by employees and their trade unions in getting management to seek their interest or to reach a decision in a short time period. They have knowledge that the organization would not want to spoil its reputation so they will come to a solution in a short time period to end the industrial action. Many organizations have set rules in carrying out its day to day operations but have short cuts in getting these done in a short space of time. In using work to rule they utilise the set rules created by management to carry out operations knowing that they cannot be given a breach of employment
contract.