What is considered insubordination in the workplace?

Business & Management
#1

The primary workplace insubordination case is straightforward: Manager says do A. The employee says no. That’s insubordination. That happens all the time – sometimes through utter rebellion and sometimes through forgetfulness, unrealistic manager expectations, and sometimes through pure laziness. If a manager says, “Do these 47 tasks today”, and the employee only does 35 of them, no one considers that insubordination.

As a general rule, according to the Society for Human Resources Management, insubordination requires three things:

1.The employer gives the order.
2.The employee acknowledges the order.
3.The employee refuses to carry out the order.
But in practical application, when a manager reprimands someone for insubordination, it’s generally an egregious situation. For example, an employee who yells his refusal to carry out instructions in front of a customer is far more likely to be written up or otherwise disciplined for insubordination than one who quietly does what he wants.