Editing Jobsworth

{{short description|Rule-bound, inflexible official}}
[[File:Paarse krokodil.jpg|thumb|right|A [[purple crocodile]] is now a metaphor for unhelpful officialdom in the Netherlands]]
A '''jobsworth'''  is a person who uses the (typically small) authority of their job in a deliberately uncooperative way, or who seemingly delights in acting in an obstructive or unhelpful manner. It characterises one who upholds petty rules even at the expense of [[effectiveness]] or [[efficiency]].  Related concepts include [[malicious compliance]], [[passive-aggressive]] behaviour, and [[micromanagement]], which can impair progress through excessive focus on details and obsessive control over those one has authority over.

==Origin==
"Jobsworth" is a [[British English|British]] [[colloquial]]ism<ref name="OED" /><ref>{{cite web |title=jobsworth – definition |url=http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/jobsworth |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506160317/http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/jobsworth |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |access-date=30 January 2011 |work=Macmillan Dictionary |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]]}}</ref> derived from the notion that something being asked of one in a work environment is too great to risk their job over, as in, "I can't do that; it's more than my job's worth." 

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' defines it as "A person in authority (esp. a minor official) who insists on adhering to rules and regulations or bureaucratic procedures even at the expense of [[common sense]]."<ref name="OED">2nd Edition, Oxford University Press</ref> [[Jonathon Green]] similarly defines "jobsworth" as "a minor [[wikt:factotum|factotum]] whose only status comes from enforcing otherwise petty regulations".<ref>{{cite book | title=The Macmillan Dictionary of Contemporary Slang | year=1995 | isbn=0-333-63407-1 | last=Green | first=Jonathon | publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] | author-link=Jonathon Green}}</ref>  It is a form of [[passive aggressive]] [[obstructionism#As workplace aggression|obstructionism]], using the letter of the law as a weapon to impair progress or prevent change.

==Examples==
An example of the phrase in its original context can be found in the 1965 [[Beatles]] movie ''[[Help! (film)|Help!]]'', when [[Roy Kinnear]]'s character, the assistant scientist  Algernon, exclaims, "Well it's more than my job's worth to stop him when he's like this; he's out to rule the world...if he can get a government grant."

An example of the term in its fully formed metaphorical use was by UK [[Folk music|folk]]-singer [[Jeremy Taylor (singer)|Jeremy Taylor]] in a song he wrote in the late 1960s:
{{poemquote
|text=Jobsworth, Jobsworth, It's more than me job's worth,
I don't care, rain or snow,
whatever you want the answer's no,
I can keep you waiting for hours in the queue,
and if you don't like it you know what you can do.}}

==Usage==
The term became widespread in [[vernacular]] English through its use in the popular 1970s [[BBC]] [[television]] programme ''[[That's Life!]]'', which featured [[Esther Rantzen]] covering various [[human interest]] and [[Consumerism|consumer]] topics. A "Jobsworth of the Week" commissionaire's hat was awarded each week to "a startling tale of going by the book".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/597889.stm BBC News: "Your job's worth more than you are"].</ref>

The term is in use, particularly in the UK, to characterise inflexible employees, petty rule-following and excessive administration, and is generally used in a pejorative context.<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960501/debtext/60501-10.htm House of Commons Hansard Debates for 1 May 1996 (pt 10)] "There seems to be here an element of what might qualify for Esther Rantzen's "jobsworth" award. I would certainly like to look at it more closely. I will therefore follow up the matters that my hon. Friend has raised today, and I hope to be able to write to him in due course."</ref>

The slang expression "Little [[Hitler]]" is also used with a similar meaning.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://jpwhitetesla.com/2012/10/21/little-hitler-alive-and-well-at-radnor-lake-state-park/ | title=(Little) Hitler alive and well at Radnor Lake State Park | date=22 October 2012 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [[Apparatchik]]
* [[Computer says no]]
* [[Malicious compliance]]
* [[Quiet quitting]]
* [[Red tape]]
* [[Work-to-rule]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Pejorative terms for people]]
[[Category:British slang]]
[[Category:Human resource management]]
[[Category:Public administration]]
[[Category:Waste of resources]]