People Are Applauding The Way This Employee Got Revenge On His Boss Who Made Him Work While Sick
There’s no denying it, we all work too much these days. As it’s gotten so much easier to take our job home and on holiday with us, the temptation to do a little extra here and there and never fully switch off is real and has even become an expectation in some companies. (Facebook cover image: Kai Hendry)
Image credits: Scott Atwood (Not the actual photo)
This kind of presenteeism doesn’t help anyone and can even be harmful, with even sickness not being enough to keep people away from their desks and bosses becoming ever more demanding. This story, told on the subreddit r/MaliciousCompliance, is a perfect example of a pushy manager refusing to respect his employees’ boundaries, to the point of ridiculousness. Marketing manager benisaboringname was left literally speechless by his boss’s request and decided to comply maliciously (not that he had much choice), to teach him a lesson.
Ben’s voice has thankfully returned and he’s doing well, although not much has changed at the company. “I think presenteeism is definitely an issue in a lot of modern workplaces, especially those that are business services related,” he explained to us here at Bored Panda. “It’s that inability to fully switch off from work. As a shareholder, I would argue it’s upon my own volition should I wish to work. Being ill presented me with a day where there were no distractions (or so I thought!) meaning I could work on things I wouldn’t normally get the chance to do. If it were any of my subordinates, I would advise them against working and we do have contract clauses that state that employees shouldn’t work outside of their contracted hours.”
And what about the Managing Director? Has he learned any humility from the experience? “Unfortunately, he’s a stubborn individual, no matter how in the wrong he is I doubt he sees the full extent of that – if he does, he hasn’t made it clear…or apologized.”
Here’s what people had to say about the situation
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My boyfriend was once sick at home with fever etc. (I was there too, nursing him a little bit and had a free day) so he called in sick at work. Later that day he received a call from the police saying his father died at a heart attack at home. He cried and was depressed after that. 30 minutes after that call, his work called and said they had a problem and he needs to solve it. He said he cant do it because hes sick and his father just died so he wont be able to do it. Later that day work called again and said he really need to do it because its urgent. I was so angry at his boss. No empathy, nothing. I knew he wasnt happy with his boss and always had problems at work but this one made me really mad. My boyfriend worked then, few weeks later he quit his job. I was really glad he found a better job and a reallu good boss after he worked in this s****y company!!!
Edit: he worked his a*s off there, worked in his free time and they said its not enough and he should work more in his freetime. His ex-boss even said if he doesnt do that, he needs to quit so he quit instantly.
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Why do some bosses assume that their employees are just machines that can work anytime? Even machines need to be taken offline for maintenance now and then. Good bosses are hard to find.
I used to work for a company that made me work at 13 hour day when my dog way dying. We were going to bring him to the vet to put him down but they made me come in before and we’re only giving me one hour off to go to the vet. Our dog died in my husbands arms before he left our house and I didn’t get to say goodyas I had already been at work since 7 am. I was so exhausted already from working late hours and so very upset that I threw up. My boss didn’t care. At 4:30 pm she then decided to swap out a huge chunk of the project and she and I worked until 8 pm! Then she complained that as tomorrow was thanksgiving she had to go home and make mashed potatoes. I responded that I now had to bury my dog using the headlights of my car to see. shes like, “Oh, you win!”
I am SO SORRY this happened to you, I'm almost in tears just reading your story. And so glad for you that you no longer work for this person! That was completely heartless and you shouldn't have been treated like that, NOT MATTER WHAT! OK, getting down off my soapbox but I had to speak up for you! Happy new year!
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Yeah so you're gonna have to video call this client. Oh, you lost your voice? Um well just do it, it's important you obviously aren't trying hard enough. Like dude you're risking the client over your ignorance.
as someone who rarely called in sick when i actually wasn't (when my children were younger & they were sick), i've had similar experiences. stood my ground & recuperated, but thankfully i've never been forced to show up. i have gone in to work, sick as a dog and actually been sent home by my supervisors. guess it's all about who you work for and i've been lucky!
It sounds like you are a dedicated and talented employee. Have you considered taking your skills to another employer? I've worked for difficult managers before, trust me; Less $ and Less Jerk > Than working for an awful person.
Sounds as though this MD was a f**king a*****e as well as a d**k head.
But this is why Trump is so great: He runs America like a CORPORATION!
I got flashbacks while reading this! I worked at a big insurance company in the '90s and had a supervisor like this: (1) the employee who was the only person who could program the phone system was out sick with a bad case of the flu. Some sales reps had switched offices, so the supervisor called her at home and forced her to come in to switch their phone lines. I recall there was some kind of threat involved. (2) I was very sick for weeks with bronchitis, sinusitis, and finally laryngitis, after suffering a bad emotional shock, but the supervisor didn't believe I was really sick. I was only out a total of 7 days. The week I had laryngitis my Dr. told me not to talk AT ALL. I came to work with a note explaining this restriction because I was afraid my job would be in jeopardy if I were out longer. When the supervisor saw the note, she acted like it was an unnecessary, terrible imposition on the office because I couldn't answer the phone.
I wish they did more than call it a "learning experience". Douche-bag MD should have been properly punished.
Me too, but at least things still ended up good for the employee
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This is why I always advocate for people to work with small firms over large corporations. The bigger a company gets, the more out of touch their management is about how real life works. They are all about the numbers, not about the people. My husband and I worked for one of the biggest companies in the country, but we left after just a year because the corporate politics and back stabbing that went on was just too much to handle. Now my husband works for a company that has less than 15 employees. He may not have the huge wages or benefits, but he's a lot happier with not having to deal with corporate stress.
Ask the boss if it's alright to come in with a suspected case of SARS.
Another good reason to learn Sign Language and more than just everyone's favorite for the highway road ragers. It will build a HUGE client base with a less than well represented component for the disabled community as well as showing the company as willing to help do whatever it takes to help the clients. Now, I'm NOT saying that the "South End of a Northbound Mule" of a MB was right in doing what he did BUT just advising that there is more than one way to deal with a situation and one that could be extremely profitable to the company on the whole.
interesting this dedicated employee can't recall how much of of the company he owns... " cant recall the exact share division"
This is normal where I work too. When the employees screw up its the end of the world and heads roll. When management does it every one looks the other way. Also if the director likes you, you can do almost anything and still have a job, including fooling around behind closed office doors during business hours. That just happened here last week and both employees still have their jobs.
Newsflash: humans are a******s. Now, can we get a story about someone actually doing or creating something?
Yet another "incapable manager treats employees wrong" story. It is getting a bit dull, alas.
I personally like reading these. They make me feel happy and quench my daily thirst for revenge.
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Again, this obviously never happened. People write these sort of stories as a way of showing off or to attract attention. Bored Panda shouldnt be so gullible. Its such obvious b******t.
This kind of crud happens all the time. Feel grateful if it hasn't happened to you, or you've never witnessed it. Although, you may be the dh boss who would pull this and assume the employee just sucks.
Load More Replies...
Anyone else want to join a stance against these tiresome articles? Down vote and ignore.
My boyfriend was once sick at home with fever etc. (I was there too, nursing him a little bit and had a free day) so he called in sick at work. Later that day he received a call from the police saying his father died at a heart attack at home. He cried and was depressed after that. 30 minutes after that call, his work called and said they had a problem and he needs to solve it. He said he cant do it because hes sick and his father just died so he wont be able to do it. Later that day work called again and said he really need to do it because its urgent. I was so angry at his boss. No empathy, nothing. I knew he wasnt happy with his boss and always had problems at work but this one made me really mad. My boyfriend worked then, few weeks later he quit his job. I was really glad he found a better job and a reallu good boss after he worked in this s****y company!!!
Edit: he worked his a*s off there, worked in his free time and they said its not enough and he should work more in his freetime. His ex-boss even said if he doesnt do that, he needs to quit so he quit instantly.
Load More Replies... Why do some bosses assume that their employees are just machines that can work anytime? Even machines need to be taken offline for maintenance now and then. Good bosses are hard to find.
I used to work for a company that made me work at 13 hour day when my dog way dying. We were going to bring him to the vet to put him down but they made me come in before and we’re only giving me one hour off to go to the vet. Our dog died in my husbands arms before he left our house and I didn’t get to say goodyas I had already been at work since 7 am. I was so exhausted already from working late hours and so very upset that I threw up. My boss didn’t care. At 4:30 pm she then decided to swap out a huge chunk of the project and she and I worked until 8 pm! Then she complained that as tomorrow was thanksgiving she had to go home and make mashed potatoes. I responded that I now had to bury my dog using the headlights of my car to see. shes like, “Oh, you win!”
I am SO SORRY this happened to you, I'm almost in tears just reading your story. And so glad for you that you no longer work for this person! That was completely heartless and you shouldn't have been treated like that, NOT MATTER WHAT! OK, getting down off my soapbox but I had to speak up for you! Happy new year!
Load More Replies... Yeah so you're gonna have to video call this client. Oh, you lost your voice? Um well just do it, it's important you obviously aren't trying hard enough. Like dude you're risking the client over your ignorance.
as someone who rarely called in sick when i actually wasn't (when my children were younger & they were sick), i've had similar experiences. stood my ground & recuperated, but thankfully i've never been forced to show up. i have gone in to work, sick as a dog and actually been sent home by my supervisors. guess it's all about who you work for and i've been lucky!
It sounds like you are a dedicated and talented employee. Have you considered taking your skills to another employer? I've worked for difficult managers before, trust me; Less $ and Less Jerk > Than working for an awful person.
Sounds as though this MD was a f**king a*****e as well as a d**k head.
But this is why Trump is so great: He runs America like a CORPORATION!
I got flashbacks while reading this! I worked at a big insurance company in the '90s and had a supervisor like this: (1) the employee who was the only person who could program the phone system was out sick with a bad case of the flu. Some sales reps had switched offices, so the supervisor called her at home and forced her to come in to switch their phone lines. I recall there was some kind of threat involved. (2) I was very sick for weeks with bronchitis, sinusitis, and finally laryngitis, after suffering a bad emotional shock, but the supervisor didn't believe I was really sick. I was only out a total of 7 days. The week I had laryngitis my Dr. told me not to talk AT ALL. I came to work with a note explaining this restriction because I was afraid my job would be in jeopardy if I were out longer. When the supervisor saw the note, she acted like it was an unnecessary, terrible imposition on the office because I couldn't answer the phone.
I wish they did more than call it a "learning experience". Douche-bag MD should have been properly punished.
Me too, but at least things still ended up good for the employee
Load More Replies... This is why I always advocate for people to work with small firms over large corporations. The bigger a company gets, the more out of touch their management is about how real life works. They are all about the numbers, not about the people. My husband and I worked for one of the biggest companies in the country, but we left after just a year because the corporate politics and back stabbing that went on was just too much to handle. Now my husband works for a company that has less than 15 employees. He may not have the huge wages or benefits, but he's a lot happier with not having to deal with corporate stress.
Ask the boss if it's alright to come in with a suspected case of SARS.
Another good reason to learn Sign Language and more than just everyone's favorite for the highway road ragers. It will build a HUGE client base with a less than well represented component for the disabled community as well as showing the company as willing to help do whatever it takes to help the clients. Now, I'm NOT saying that the "South End of a Northbound Mule" of a MB was right in doing what he did BUT just advising that there is more than one way to deal with a situation and one that could be extremely profitable to the company on the whole.
interesting this dedicated employee can't recall how much of of the company he owns... " cant recall the exact share division"
This is normal where I work too. When the employees screw up its the end of the world and heads roll. When management does it every one looks the other way. Also if the director likes you, you can do almost anything and still have a job, including fooling around behind closed office doors during business hours. That just happened here last week and both employees still have their jobs.
Newsflash: humans are a******s. Now, can we get a story about someone actually doing or creating something?
Yet another "incapable manager treats employees wrong" story. It is getting a bit dull, alas.
I personally like reading these. They make me feel happy and quench my daily thirst for revenge.
Load More Replies... Again, this obviously never happened. People write these sort of stories as a way of showing off or to attract attention. Bored Panda shouldnt be so gullible. Its such obvious b******t.
This kind of crud happens all the time. Feel grateful if it hasn't happened to you, or you've never witnessed it. Although, you may be the dh boss who would pull this and assume the employee just sucks.
Load More Replies... Anyone else want to join a stance against these tiresome articles? Down vote and ignore.
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