# Jobsworth > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jobsworth > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jobsworth.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobsworth > Source revision: 1344518578 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Rule-bound, inflexible official A [purple crocodile](/source/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](/source/Effectiveness) or [efficiency](/source/Efficiency). Related concepts include [malicious compliance](/source/Malicious_compliance), [passive-aggressive](/source/Passive-aggressive) behaviour, and [micromanagement](/source/Micromanagement), which can impair progress through excessive focus on details and obsessive control over those one has authority over. ## Origin "Jobsworth" is a [British](/source/British_English) [colloquialism](/source/Colloquial)[1][2] 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](/source/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](/source/Common_sense)."[1] [Jonathon Green](/source/Jonathon_Green) similarly defines "jobsworth" as "a minor [factotum](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/factotum) whose only status comes from enforcing otherwise petty regulations".[3] It is a form of [passive aggressive](/source/Passive_aggressive) [obstructionism](/source/Obstructionism#As_workplace_aggression), 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](/source/Beatles) movie *[Help!](/source/Help!_(film))*, when [Roy Kinnear](/source/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](/source/Folk_music)-singer [Jeremy Taylor](/source/Jeremy_Taylor_(singer)) in a song he wrote in the late 1960s: 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](/source/Vernacular) English through its use in the popular 1970s [BBC](/source/BBC) [television](/source/Television) programme *[That's Life!](/source/That's_Life!)*, which featured [Esther Rantzen](/source/Esther_Rantzen) covering various [human interest](/source/Human_interest) and [consumer](/source/Consumerism) topics. A "Jobsworth of the Week" commissionaire's hat was awarded each week to "a startling tale of going by the book".[4] 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.[5] The slang expression "Little [Hitler](/source/Hitler)" is also used with a similar meaning.[6] ## See also Look up ***[jobsworth](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/jobsworth)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. - [Apparatchik](/source/Apparatchik) - [Computer says no](/source/Computer_says_no) - [Malicious compliance](/source/Malicious_compliance) - [Quiet quitting](/source/Quiet_quitting) - [Red tape](/source/Red_tape) - [Work-to-rule](/source/Work-to-rule) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-OED_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-OED_1-1) 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["jobsworth – definition"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210506160317/http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/jobsworth). *Macmillan Dictionary*. [Macmillan Publishers](/source/Macmillan_Publishers). Archived from [the original](http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/jobsworth) on May 6, 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2011. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Green, Jonathon](/source/Jonathon_Green) (1995). *The Macmillan Dictionary of Contemporary Slang*. [Macmillan](/source/Macmillan_Publishers). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-333-63407-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-333-63407-1). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [BBC News: "Your job's worth more than you are"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/597889.stm). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [House of Commons Hansard Debates for 1 May 1996 (pt 10)](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960501/debtext/60501-10.htm) "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." 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["(Little) Hitler alive and well at Radnor Lake State Park"](https://jpwhitetesla.com/2012/10/21/little-hitler-alive-and-well-at-radnor-lake-state-park/). 22 October 2012. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jobsworth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobsworth) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobsworth?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.