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One employee shared on Reddit that their micromanaging boss complained that everyone in the office was “disappearing” from their desks, and said people couldn’t just leave their workstations like that. Of course, it’s impossible to do any job without ever getting up from your desk, so this annoyed worker came up with a petty but satisfying solution.

It only makes sense that people with different personalities will turn out to be different kinds of bosses. Some people are very laidback, and they create a very relaxed atmosphere for the employees they manage. Others are a bit more type A, and therefore prone to micromanagement. Unfortunately, micromanagement doesn’t really work when it comes to employee satisfaction and productivity, and perhaps this employee’s boss learned a lesson by getting a taste of their own medicine

An employee decided to message their boss every single time they had to leave their desk for any reason as petty revenge.

The employee shared to Reddit, “We had a team meeting where my boss said people are getting up and disappearing without telling anyone and it’s unprofessional.” They went on to say, “So now I message him on Teams every single time.”

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Whether the employee is getting up to take a bathroom break, refill their coffee, or use the printer, their boss gets a message. “I don’t wait for a response,” they said. “I just let him know. Last week I sent him nine messages in one day.”

That seemed to do the trick. “On Friday, he replied, ‘You don’t need to tell me every time you move,’ and I said, ‘Just wanted to make sure I’m being professional like you asked,’” they recalled. “He hasn’t brought it up since.”

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It’s no surprise that this employee is far from the first person to experience an overbearing boss.

The Reddit post has made quite the impression, with 28,000 upvotes and over 1,000 comments. A disappointing number of people admitted that they had been in the exact same situation before. One shared, “My former boss did this, and the problem child to whom this was directed did the same. He was the king not only of malicious compliance but weaponized incompetence as well.”

Oddly enough, another commenter said they actually ran into this issue while working from home. “Worked remote where you were supposed to set your Slack status when you were away from your desk for any reason, including bathroom breaks,” they shared.

A third person recommended one “bonus [main character] move” the original poster could make. “Email him to clarify what level of notification would be considered appropriately professional, as clearly it’s between ‘no notification required’ and ‘every time I leave my desk,’” they said.

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Working for a micromanager may seem like something to just push through, but it can actually be very harmful.

If this person’s boss was willing to hold his workforce to such strict standards when simply stepping away from their desks, there’s a good chance that he has other micromanaging tendencies as well. In a Psychology Today article, Victor Lipman, MBA, said that working for a micromanager can lead to decreased productivity and motivation, as well as a loss of autonomy and creativity.

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Clinical psychologist Dr. Paul Losoff, PsyD, agreed. “Micromanaging is often considered toxic because it shows a lack of trust in employees, strips away autonomy, and creates an atmosphere of constant scrutiny or criticism,” he said. “This can heighten anxiety, diminish motivation, and prevent employees from developing their full capabilities.”

Obviously, very few people have the luxury of just leaving their job because they don’t like their boss’s management style, and sometimes the best you can hope for is little acts of petty revenge like the one described in the Reddit post. Whatever the situation, it’s important not to take micromanaging behavior lying down and remember your worth as an employee.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.