work-to-rule

noun

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.

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Meanings

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

plural work-to-rules · alternative noun work to rule

  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.
adjectivework-to-rule (not comparable)

alternative noun work to rule

  1. not comparableOf or pertaining to such a protest.

    Disgruntled by chronic staff shortages, doctors threatened a “work-to-rule” action at the East London Hospital Complex by the end of this week.

    2008 June 11, “EL doctors threaten ‘work to rule’ action”, in Dispatch Online, South Africa, retrieved 26 Jun 2008

Origin

Deverbal from work to rule.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 按章工作
  • 按章工作 (ànzhānggōngzuò)labor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
Dutch stiptheidsactie, modelactie
  • stiptheidsactielabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
  • modelactielabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
Finnish hidastuslakko, italialainen lakko
  • hidastuslakkolabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
  • italialainen lakkolabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
French grève du zèle
  • grève du zèlelabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
German Dienst nach Vorschrift
  • Dienst nach Vorschriftlabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
Italian sciopero bianco
  • sciopero biancolabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
Norwegian Bokmål dagsing
  • dagsinglabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
Polish strajk włoski
  • strajk włoskilabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
Spanish huelga de celo
  • huelga de celolabor protest in which the minimum work is carried out
Cite this entry
APA

work-to-rule. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/work-to-rule

MLA

“work-to-rule.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/work-to-rule. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “work-to-rule,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/work-to-rule.

Source: work-to-rule on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.