UK job site CV-Library asked 1,000 workers across the UK for the silliest and most unnecessary rules they were required to adhere to – and some are just plain ridiculous

A new survey has revealed the five most ridiculous workplace rules in the UK.

UK job site CV-Library asked 1,000 workers across the UK for the silliest and most unnecessary rules they were required to adhere to.

And more than 57% of respondents said they found some rules so daft they simply ignored them. The top five were:

1. Toilet troubles: Many respondents reported that they either had a strict time frame in which to go to the toilet (three minutes), had to ask to use the toilet facilities, and were even searched before going to the toilet.
2. Dress code dilemmas: Some respondents reported that they had to wear particular coloured clothes to match the business, women weren’t allowed to wear trousers, and one individual even said that they were sent home for not dressing down.
3. Silent treatment: Some employees stated that they weren’t allowed to talk out loud apart from when in the staff room, while others said that they weren’t allowed to say hello to a customer, only ‘good morning’, or ‘good afternoon’.
4. Time keeping: If you’re two minutes late in one business you’ll have your pay docked by 15 minutes, and in another you aren’t allowed to travel further than 20 metres away from the building at lunch in case you’re late back. Do they measure it?
5. Beverage blunders: Some workplaces won’t allow their staff to drink water and another will not let workers carry drinks up and down the stairs. What’s more, one company won’t let employees have drinks on their desk in case they get spilt.

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, said:  “Every workplace needs rules – otherwise you’d simply never get things done.

“That said it’s clear that many of the rules highlighted in our research are just ridiculous.

“Employees want to feel trusted and while one workplace can differ massively to another, you have to treat your staff like adults – especially when it comes to being allowed to drink water and going to the toilet.”