Jobsworth

Taken from the line "It's more than my job's worth ... ", a jobsworth is a person who uses their job description in a deliberately obstructive way.

Coined in the UK, possibly in the song of the same name by Jeremy Taylor, the term is most often applied to public service low-level officials, who have little authority, and so the 'jobsworth' response gives them the only power they are likely to get.

The true jobsworth is one who knows the rules backwards, knows that there is flexibility and chooses not to use it.

It is important to distinguish them from someone who really has no flexibility and really would lose their job.

For example, the man at the ticket barrier who applies the 'no passengers allowed to board from one minute before departure' rule, when the driver is still nowhere to be found, is a true jobsworth. The bus driver who refuses to let a passenger off in the middle lane at traffic lights, however, is not - there is a real safety issue; she would lose her job (and probably her licence).

The Internet equivalent is the Open Source editor who constantly refers items for discussion, vote, further consideration, rather than make a decision true to the spirit and aims of the project.

Jobsworth is defined by attitude, not the real or potential risk to continued employment.

That's Life!, Esther Rantzen's UK television program featured a 'jobsworth of the week'; the behaviour appears to be a predominantly male trait, perhaps a result of resentment at lack of real authority in the traditional male.

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