Teachers are overloaded with rules, regulations, and procedures. Unfortunately, many of these rules, regulations, and procedures turn out to be burdensome, while also lacking functionality, and can thus be classified as red tape. Past literature revealed that employees’ well-being and performance are both negatively affected by the presence of red tape. However, this past literature mainly focused on exploring the direct relationships between red tape, well-being, and performance. Consequently, little is known about the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions explaining why employees respond to red tape in a certain way. Although red tape is a key research topic in public administration, its emotional consequences received very little attention. As emotions could be part of the “black box” explaining red tape’s impact on well-being and performance, this research project will investigate the underlying role of emotions in these relations. Specifically, (1) by unraveling the relation between red tape and job performance, (2) by investigating whether discrepancies in red tape experiences between colleagues result in organizational conflict, (3) by exploring the relation between red tape and burnout symptoms, and (4) by examining when red tape affects teachers’ emotions, this research project aims to contribute to an improved understanding of red tape’s negative consequences and how to mitigate these consequences.