work-to-rule

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See also: work to rule

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

Deverbal from work to rule.

Noun

work-to-rule (plural work-to-rules)

  1. A labor protest in which employees do only the minimum work required by the rules of a workplace, following safety or other regulations to the letter in order to cause a slowdown.

Usage notes

  • A work-to-rule job action is a less severe form of labor protest than a strike, in which employees refuse to do any work.

Translations

Adjective

work-to-rule (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to such a protest.
    • 2008 June 11, “EL doctors threaten ‘work to rule’ action”, in Dispatch Online, South Africa, retrieved 26 June 2008:
      Disgruntled by chronic staff shortages, doctors threatened a “work-to-rule” action at the East London Hospital Complex by the end of this week.