work to rule
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++ˌwork-to-ˈrule noun [singular] BELa situation in which people in a particular job refuse to do any additional work as a protest 〔拒绝做额外工作以示抗议的〕怠工，按章工作 → strike → work to rule at work1(32)
Examples from the Corpus
work to rule• Video-Tape, no voice over ARNCOTT/Oxfordshire Prison officers at Bullingdon prison near Bicester began their work to rule last night.• Plants work to rules rather different from those of animals.nwork to rulenBritish EnglishBEL to protest about a situation at work by doing your job slowly, with the excuse that you must obey all the rules exactly → workExamples from the Corpus
work-to-rule• Some students had to do an extra year because of the staff work-to-rule.• Because of their work-to-rule, teachers were no longer taking after-school clubs or supervising lunch hours.From Longman Business Dictionarywork-to-ruleˌwork-to-ˈrule British English, work-to-contract American English noun [singular]HUMAN RESOURCES an occasion when people protest about a situation at work by doing their job less quickly or effectively, but without breaking their employer’s rules or the terms of their contractThe work-to-rule exposed the chronic staffing problems in the emergency services. → see also work to rule under work1ˌwork-to-ˈrule nounwork to ruleLDOCE OnlineChineseSyllable
a in which Corpus a Business in situation people
work to rule
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++work to rule → work to rule at work1(12) to protest about a situation at work by doing your job slowly, with the excuse that you must obey all the rules exactly
See also rule