Jobsworth

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A jobsworth is a person who uses his or her job description in a deliberately obstructive way, "a minor factotum whose only status comes from enforcing otherwise petty regulations".^[1] The term comes from the phrase "I can't do that, it's more than my job's worth." The equivalent phrase in American slang is "company man".

The term became widely known in the UK in the 1970s when it was used as a strand in the high-rating consumer affairs BBC TV programme That's Life! with Esther Rantzen. A "Jobsworth of the Week" commissionaire's hat was awarded each week to "a startling tale of going by the book".^[2]

The term remains current, particularly in the UK, to characterise officious and inflexible employees, petty rule-following and excessive administration.^[3]

George Melly, journalist and jazz musician, gave a working definition of the term during a short talk piece on BBC2 TV in the mid-1970s.^{[citation needed]} A song of the same name was written and performed by Jeremy Taylor.

The term is often used to describe Gareth Keenan, a character on The Office (UK), and Dwight Schrute from The Office (US).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

^ Jonathon Green's Dictionary of Slang, Cassell, 1998.
^ BBC News: "Your job's worth more than you are".
^ 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."