India, Aug. 20 -- A Reddit post has gone viral after an IT worker revealed how a manager's strict "no phones" rule spectacularly backfired and left the company in chaos.

The employee (@Mother_Soraka), who works in IT support for a medium-sized firm, explained that staff had always been allowed to keep their mobile phones at their desks.

"We've always been allowed to have our phones at our desks. Sometimes, family emergencies happen, doctors call back, whatever. As long as we weren't scrolling social media all day, nobody cared."

That changed when a new manager arrived. After spotting one employee checking a text, he introduced a strict ban.

An email was sent stating: "Effective immediately: No personal phones during work hours. They m...