We do that for some of the more complex business logic. We wrote libraries, which are used by our tests, and we wrote tests which test the library functions to ensure they provide correct results.
What always worries me is that WE came up with that. It wasn’t some higher up, or business unit, or anything. Only because we cared to do our job correctly. If we didn’t - nobody would. Nobody is watching the testers (in my experience).
You too can easily trick these shitty little towns out of their ticket farming money. Just follow the rules like everyone else.
10/10 people who feel the need to say that the rules are for others are exactly the kind of people the rules are for.