Boss Has The Audacity To Write Up His Best Employee After They Came In On Their Free Day To Help Out, Backpedals Real Quick After They Hand In Their Notice
In the workplace, there’s nothing more valuable than competent, hardworking employees who have great attitudes. So it would only make sense for managers to do everything they can to keep their staff satisfied, in hopes that they won’t go in search of other opportunities. Nobody loves job hunting, and no company enjoys constantly having to find, hire and train new employees. When everyone is happy where they are, everyone wins. And yet, for some reason, bosses never seem to learn their lessons when valuable employees jump ship due to toxic work environments or better opportunities…
Recently, one man shared with the Petty Revenge subreddit how a close friend of his decided that this job was no longer worth it, after being written up on his day off. Below, you’ll find the full story, as well as some of the replies from invested readers. Let us know in the comments what you think about the situation, and if you’ve ever quit under similar circumstances, feel free to share your personal stories as well. Then, if you’re hungry for another Bored Panda article featuring tales of petty revenge in the workplace, look no further than right here!
After being written up while helping on his day off, this employee decided his job was no longer worth it
Image source: Sebastian Herrmann (not the actual photo)
Image source: Anna Shvets (not the actual photo)
As soon as Steve decided to quit, his managers regretted their actions and desperately tried to make him stay
Image source: Go-daddio
Keeping employees satisfied is not rocket science, yet some managers act like it is. If someone has been working at your company for a decade and consistently going in to help the team on his days off, that person deserves a raise, better benefits or a promotion. They should not be written up and pushed to the point of frustration where they feel that they have to quit. It should come as no surprise to bosses and managers that their staff is not unconditionally loyal, but they seem to forget that fact when they overwork, underpay and undermine their workers.
When it comes to keeping employees satisfied to ensure retention in a workplace, Nicole Lipkin wrote an article for Forbes discussing what managers need to know. She noted that a 2021 Gallup poll found that “48% of America’s working population is actively job searching or watching for opportunities”, so employers should never just sit back and relax, assuming that their staff is going nowhere. It’s crucial to check in with employees often to see how they are feeling and hear what they would like to see improve.
One tip Nicole provides for bosses is to “co-create a blueprint for the future” with their workers. If everyone gets to express their thoughts and contribute to where the company is headed, workers will feel more committed to turning those goals into reality. If they feel aimless at the company or have no idea what its future goals are, they might go searching for a job that feels more meaningful. Nicole also urges employers to stop putting off leadership development. Being a leader in the workplace does not come naturally to everyone, and it’s important that managers have the proper training and skillset to lead a team well.
Another important factor in keeping employees satisfied is offering them a creative benefits package. “Smaller companies don’t often have the ability to offer upward mobility,” Nicole notes. “This is where thinking out of the box can come in handy. Perhaps there are other benefits that could be offered like workplace flexibility, vacation days, or working on projects outside the scope of their jobs.” A cushy benefits package might be enough to keep an employee working at your company, if they know that it would be a challenge to find a better offer elsewhere.
Employers also need to ensure that they keep their promises. If your staff is told they can look forward to a Christmas bonus, more paid time off the following year, more remote work days, etc., they will not forget. If promises are broken, employees will lose trust in their bosses, so make sure that someone is keeping you accountable for whatever you promise. Managers should also help their staff get to the next level in their lives. No one wants to feel like they’re stuck at a dead end job, and certainly not forever. When workers feel supported and excited about the future of their career where they are, they won’t feel the need to look elsewhere.
In the case of this story on Reddit, it seems like it was time for Steve to move on. He was overworked and underappreciated, and he does not deserve to be treated poorly after going above and beyond for so many years. We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, and if you’ve ever left a job under similar circumstances, feel free to share with your fellow pandas how you went about doing so.
Many readers applauded Steve for standing up for himself and called out his managers for their poor leadership
"You're offering me a raise to stay? If you think I'm worth that much, why weren't you paying me that already?" Seriously, two rules of leaving a job. 1) If they offer you more to stay it means only two possible things. First, they didn't realize how valuable you were, or second, they didn't think you realized how valuable you are. Never ever take an offer to stay because, 2) Once they know you're not happy, and looking to leave, they'll start looking to replace you. They may be offering you more now to stay, but that's only because they need the time to hire your replacement. I always give two weeks notice AFTER I've signed the contract with the new employer, and just tell the current job I'm sorry, but I'm already hired by them.
Don’t go in or answer the phone on your day off. If an employer makes you do that, it’s illegal and you need to leave. I’ve learned that any favors you do becomes your permanent job description.
My employers don't even get my cellphone, they get my home landline. I am not on call 24/7. If you need me, and I happen to be home, good for you.
Load More Replies...In some countries once you were officially scheduled for day off, you cannot be at premises for legal and insurance reasons. Imagine there will be some accident, this guy will be injured and official investigation launched. First thing - why he was at work place when it was his day off?
Years ago when I worked at a warehouse club, I was leaving work after my overnight shift when I saw the guy in the attached liquor store was super swamped. I had been the liquor stocker just before him, and we got along pretty well, so I went in and helped him get a couple hundred cases of liquor off the floor. I was off the clock the whole time: about an hour and a half. I got in big trouble for that! In hindsight, had I dropped a pallet of Scotch or run over a customer while off the clock, it could have cost my employers hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
Load More Replies...I was in a job where I quit . I was there 22 years . The negativity of the company got worse after several good ppl left , one of which was my immune boss . Her boss never did understand the negativity and the effect of poor communication on other staff . I left and found a small company in which I am now appreciated. I'm semi-retired and like my new position.
I've had conversations with management in the past: every time someone says there is the door, nobody is stopping you, I leave. And when I'm leaving, they want to "talk about this". Then I remind them of the conversation. Scare tactics are such a waste. Especially, when the employee is fed up, and the employer is ignorant. What happened to the days of employees and employers having mutual respect?? What's scary: is I have worked in places, that when they actually do try to keep you, they wind up being worse being nice, than being themselves. Boy, this world is going to the dogs.
My favorite is being written up for something they personally mistrained you to do in the first place. You did it exactly as they trained you, but it was wrong. They know that, but you get written up anyways. It's a fun, added layer of stress to training and job performance for newcomers.
My manager once yelled at me because my shift support person did something wrong… she (the manager) was the person who trained him. But apparently I was supposed to be babysitting him my whole shift and making sure he was doing stuff right. Not sure when I was supposed to do my own work. Or how I was supposed to know that I was supposed to finish his training for her
Load More Replies...Proud of Steve. I had a similar situation. I went in early and stayed late. Trained new employees which was not my job. My Boss played favorites and this one employee told lies on me because she was jealous and the Boss believed it instead of investigating. I was called into office and written up with me telling Boss none of it was true and to not take my word but ask around and look at the cameras. She refused and I refused to sign anything and turned in my notice effective immediately. I hear that they have lost other employees and customers and will have to shut down after the new year. As for me I have another job with better pay. I have one question, why did Steve sigh the write up?
I got written up at my sales job once because I only spent an average of 2 hours and 50 minutes on the phone per day instead of the minimum 3 hours, even though my sales were through the roof that month. I then spent the next year or so padding my stats by phoning companies and letting their menus run while I goofed off. At one point, I'd go entire weeks without making one actual phone call. But I always topped 3 hours and they never wrote me up again till I was part of a mass layoff 13 months later. They talk about "quiet quitting" these days? Yo, I INVENTED quiet quitting 20 years ago.
When I was in college, I lived in the dormitories and they were closed down over Christmas break. If you had no where to go, you could move into the International Student Dorm, but at a pretty steep price for the over three weeks. I had a minimum wage job at the time at a general store, and I really didn't like the manager that much (literally an ex-Marine Drill Sergeant). Anyway, about four weeks out I had calculated that staying there and working was going to net cost me several hundred dollars, so I went in to tell the boss that I couldn't be on the schedule after a certain day (and did share why). I received a furious glare from him and a severe dressing down....... when he finally came up for air after saying it wasn't my choice, I replied that he now had one of three choices: I could quit and walk out that instant, or I could quit with two weeks notice, or I could quit and have my last day be the last day I could be in the dorm, and help out in the Christmas rush as much as I cou
Was duffelbagpete never a new hire or something?? What a s****y thing to say. Every job I have had, with the exception of like two I caught on pretty fast, like within the first week or so. Duffelbagpete you are a real piece of work!!
It's called "The inmates are running the asylum " or How to Make A**holes, Make them a manager"
We said that about a nonprofit I worked for. It was a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed adolescents. They let the kids make decisions, even when there were treatment plans developed for the individual kids. They were encouraged to file formal complaints against staff. Once complaint made against me was that I told them they had to use pencils for math. I was on paid timeoff for three days while they investigated. I was told I, as the teacher, couldn't require that. We eventually parted ways. The state shut that part of the nonprofit down a year later after many terrible incidents and complaints.
Load More Replies...I think my funniest story kinda like that came from my stepdad. He's a brown Mexican but was raised by a white cop stepdad in Iowa so always had a weird relationship with race and oppressive dynamics in general. Anyway he spent almost 15 years mostly overseeing hiring/firing/trying to get certain people to quit. For a very major phone company. I've always been more of a socialist and he's used so many anecdotes from work and how valuable he is to the company. How i really shouldn't wear my wrist brace or anything else that indicates disability in public cause then I'll never get a job. With tons of stories about all the legal ways he discriminates against trans people, disaled people, anyone who does or might use FMLA leave etc
He made his entire identity being the absolute best cog ever. Often arguing for racial bias in credit and not trus anyone who "sounds too black or foreign". Anyway like 2 months after trump took office he was immediately fired out of nowhere since they saw *him* as "seeming too foreign". Also around the same time he started needing to take more time off due to his health conditions he recently started getting as well as needing to take more care of his kids now that my mom is way more sick than he is. And then he comes to me crying about how shocked he is. Bro you helped enable and strengthen those very same biases and practices. You bragged about making new single moms so miserable they'd quit and be inelligable for unemployment. About making it nearly impossible for those who need Oxygen tanks to really have them in their work space. For spending most interviews looking for some reason to discriminate and uphold these same oppressive systems. No sympathy for you in particular dude
Load More Replies...Yay Steve! I'm so glad he was in a position to quit. These managers thinking that their authority goes beyond scheduled hours make me sick.
I worked in the warehouse for a small Cabinet supplier whose sales manager decided to go into business for herself. She approached me (privately) and asked me to join her to handle the warehouse operations. She offered less than I was making at the time which was already garbage so I refused. After some back and forth, her offer was a "promise" that my salary would be doubled, and include percentage stake, and in charge if i can make the sacrifice. Fast forward a year and a half of steady growrh (60-70 hour work weeks ), a clean and smooth running warehouse and two additional warehouse employees (trained and laced up). Yada yada she lied. I believe the offer as I was walking out the door was to pay me a dollar more per hour. I was blind sided and I knew from day one this was always a possible outcome. Just another example considering she called me crying 3 months later. Question that lingers for me is was this her plan all along? OR did she succumb to greed?
Always get it in writing. Be it from familiy or friend.
Load More Replies...I was asked once to help a company out during a busy and difficult time for them. I knew the owner, was not going to be paid much, but decided I could do it as a favour. I felt sorry because he said he was doing all the work while his employees did nothing. After the 1st day I noticed that the owner did almost nothing, but rudely boss everyone around, including me, and spent most of his time playing computer games. His employees worked hard. Then afterwards, in an arrogant tone, he told me that in his company he was the boss and expected everyone to obey him without question, me included, saying: "If I tell you to jump, you ask how high." I went: "What? For one thing, I DO NOT WORK FOR YOU! You asked my help for sh*t pay as a favour to get you through a rough time & you do no work at all." As I laid into him, he shrank like a defeated school yard bully. Life's too short to put up with that kind of c**p.
Rite aid stores are not allowed n Florida, Now i know why, Fla does not put up w/ employees being treated like c**p! Well karma hit, They closed alk their stored n South, Taken over by CVS & etc! They deserved what they got!☹
My entire shift, plant manager, secretary and even the mill log buyer quit when the owner called me and cursed me out because I had collapsed at work and had to be carried to the ER due to exhaustion after working for them 7 days a week 12 hour shifts for 5 years. He cursed me out because I didn't finish the last 15 minutes of my shift installing 3 blades that took the next shift leader a total of 10 minutes to install and thus the plant started up 20 minutes late. Naturally I told him to go "f**k himself and his mill" since I lived in a company house I was kicked out and charged 4 months rent which I refused to pay! The cost of lost production when everyone on an entire quit cost them so much finally pushed them to close the plant.. I was really humbled by those people walking out like that.
Company I worked for went through a merger. About 6 months later I was notified that my position had been eliminated and my final day would be in 2 weeks. Not once during those 2 weeks did anyone ask about the handing off of my duties. I supported 3 offices in 2 different states (Paid rent, utilities, landscaping, ordered office supplies, etc.) I was also the admin for the 120 people in my office and admin for the nationwide collections department. I did daily reports for nationwide customer service, input bills into the AP system, ordered supplies, etc. Not once did anyone ask about what I did. My former boss called on the Monday after my last day and asked if he could call if he had questions. NO.
Love that he signed the write up first. Means they couldn't just backpeddle and toss it out the window.
So what was the cause of the company (management) start going down hill ? Was there new management in play ?
C'mon be honest. You're Steve! Congrats on "Steve's" soon to be new baby
So he had his two weeks notice in an envelope when he went int work that day ??
I carry my notice for every job I start, just sign, date and leave. Saves time.
Load More Replies...If you 'stopped reading, then why are you here? Fake.
Load More Replies...I guarantee that this same thing happens over and over again. Boss offered me a management job, but only because that position was what I had been doing on overtime for years. Catch? Now I would be salaried instead of hourly.
Load More Replies..."You're offering me a raise to stay? If you think I'm worth that much, why weren't you paying me that already?" Seriously, two rules of leaving a job. 1) If they offer you more to stay it means only two possible things. First, they didn't realize how valuable you were, or second, they didn't think you realized how valuable you are. Never ever take an offer to stay because, 2) Once they know you're not happy, and looking to leave, they'll start looking to replace you. They may be offering you more now to stay, but that's only because they need the time to hire your replacement. I always give two weeks notice AFTER I've signed the contract with the new employer, and just tell the current job I'm sorry, but I'm already hired by them.
Don’t go in or answer the phone on your day off. If an employer makes you do that, it’s illegal and you need to leave. I’ve learned that any favors you do becomes your permanent job description.
My employers don't even get my cellphone, they get my home landline. I am not on call 24/7. If you need me, and I happen to be home, good for you.
Load More Replies...In some countries once you were officially scheduled for day off, you cannot be at premises for legal and insurance reasons. Imagine there will be some accident, this guy will be injured and official investigation launched. First thing - why he was at work place when it was his day off?
Years ago when I worked at a warehouse club, I was leaving work after my overnight shift when I saw the guy in the attached liquor store was super swamped. I had been the liquor stocker just before him, and we got along pretty well, so I went in and helped him get a couple hundred cases of liquor off the floor. I was off the clock the whole time: about an hour and a half. I got in big trouble for that! In hindsight, had I dropped a pallet of Scotch or run over a customer while off the clock, it could have cost my employers hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
Load More Replies...I was in a job where I quit . I was there 22 years . The negativity of the company got worse after several good ppl left , one of which was my immune boss . Her boss never did understand the negativity and the effect of poor communication on other staff . I left and found a small company in which I am now appreciated. I'm semi-retired and like my new position.
I've had conversations with management in the past: every time someone says there is the door, nobody is stopping you, I leave. And when I'm leaving, they want to "talk about this". Then I remind them of the conversation. Scare tactics are such a waste. Especially, when the employee is fed up, and the employer is ignorant. What happened to the days of employees and employers having mutual respect?? What's scary: is I have worked in places, that when they actually do try to keep you, they wind up being worse being nice, than being themselves. Boy, this world is going to the dogs.
My favorite is being written up for something they personally mistrained you to do in the first place. You did it exactly as they trained you, but it was wrong. They know that, but you get written up anyways. It's a fun, added layer of stress to training and job performance for newcomers.
My manager once yelled at me because my shift support person did something wrong… she (the manager) was the person who trained him. But apparently I was supposed to be babysitting him my whole shift and making sure he was doing stuff right. Not sure when I was supposed to do my own work. Or how I was supposed to know that I was supposed to finish his training for her
Load More Replies...Proud of Steve. I had a similar situation. I went in early and stayed late. Trained new employees which was not my job. My Boss played favorites and this one employee told lies on me because she was jealous and the Boss believed it instead of investigating. I was called into office and written up with me telling Boss none of it was true and to not take my word but ask around and look at the cameras. She refused and I refused to sign anything and turned in my notice effective immediately. I hear that they have lost other employees and customers and will have to shut down after the new year. As for me I have another job with better pay. I have one question, why did Steve sigh the write up?
I got written up at my sales job once because I only spent an average of 2 hours and 50 minutes on the phone per day instead of the minimum 3 hours, even though my sales were through the roof that month. I then spent the next year or so padding my stats by phoning companies and letting their menus run while I goofed off. At one point, I'd go entire weeks without making one actual phone call. But I always topped 3 hours and they never wrote me up again till I was part of a mass layoff 13 months later. They talk about "quiet quitting" these days? Yo, I INVENTED quiet quitting 20 years ago.
When I was in college, I lived in the dormitories and they were closed down over Christmas break. If you had no where to go, you could move into the International Student Dorm, but at a pretty steep price for the over three weeks. I had a minimum wage job at the time at a general store, and I really didn't like the manager that much (literally an ex-Marine Drill Sergeant). Anyway, about four weeks out I had calculated that staying there and working was going to net cost me several hundred dollars, so I went in to tell the boss that I couldn't be on the schedule after a certain day (and did share why). I received a furious glare from him and a severe dressing down....... when he finally came up for air after saying it wasn't my choice, I replied that he now had one of three choices: I could quit and walk out that instant, or I could quit with two weeks notice, or I could quit and have my last day be the last day I could be in the dorm, and help out in the Christmas rush as much as I cou
Was duffelbagpete never a new hire or something?? What a s****y thing to say. Every job I have had, with the exception of like two I caught on pretty fast, like within the first week or so. Duffelbagpete you are a real piece of work!!
It's called "The inmates are running the asylum " or How to Make A**holes, Make them a manager"
We said that about a nonprofit I worked for. It was a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed adolescents. They let the kids make decisions, even when there were treatment plans developed for the individual kids. They were encouraged to file formal complaints against staff. Once complaint made against me was that I told them they had to use pencils for math. I was on paid timeoff for three days while they investigated. I was told I, as the teacher, couldn't require that. We eventually parted ways. The state shut that part of the nonprofit down a year later after many terrible incidents and complaints.
Load More Replies...I think my funniest story kinda like that came from my stepdad. He's a brown Mexican but was raised by a white cop stepdad in Iowa so always had a weird relationship with race and oppressive dynamics in general. Anyway he spent almost 15 years mostly overseeing hiring/firing/trying to get certain people to quit. For a very major phone company. I've always been more of a socialist and he's used so many anecdotes from work and how valuable he is to the company. How i really shouldn't wear my wrist brace or anything else that indicates disability in public cause then I'll never get a job. With tons of stories about all the legal ways he discriminates against trans people, disaled people, anyone who does or might use FMLA leave etc
He made his entire identity being the absolute best cog ever. Often arguing for racial bias in credit and not trus anyone who "sounds too black or foreign". Anyway like 2 months after trump took office he was immediately fired out of nowhere since they saw *him* as "seeming too foreign". Also around the same time he started needing to take more time off due to his health conditions he recently started getting as well as needing to take more care of his kids now that my mom is way more sick than he is. And then he comes to me crying about how shocked he is. Bro you helped enable and strengthen those very same biases and practices. You bragged about making new single moms so miserable they'd quit and be inelligable for unemployment. About making it nearly impossible for those who need Oxygen tanks to really have them in their work space. For spending most interviews looking for some reason to discriminate and uphold these same oppressive systems. No sympathy for you in particular dude
Load More Replies...Yay Steve! I'm so glad he was in a position to quit. These managers thinking that their authority goes beyond scheduled hours make me sick.
I worked in the warehouse for a small Cabinet supplier whose sales manager decided to go into business for herself. She approached me (privately) and asked me to join her to handle the warehouse operations. She offered less than I was making at the time which was already garbage so I refused. After some back and forth, her offer was a "promise" that my salary would be doubled, and include percentage stake, and in charge if i can make the sacrifice. Fast forward a year and a half of steady growrh (60-70 hour work weeks ), a clean and smooth running warehouse and two additional warehouse employees (trained and laced up). Yada yada she lied. I believe the offer as I was walking out the door was to pay me a dollar more per hour. I was blind sided and I knew from day one this was always a possible outcome. Just another example considering she called me crying 3 months later. Question that lingers for me is was this her plan all along? OR did she succumb to greed?
Always get it in writing. Be it from familiy or friend.
Load More Replies...I was asked once to help a company out during a busy and difficult time for them. I knew the owner, was not going to be paid much, but decided I could do it as a favour. I felt sorry because he said he was doing all the work while his employees did nothing. After the 1st day I noticed that the owner did almost nothing, but rudely boss everyone around, including me, and spent most of his time playing computer games. His employees worked hard. Then afterwards, in an arrogant tone, he told me that in his company he was the boss and expected everyone to obey him without question, me included, saying: "If I tell you to jump, you ask how high." I went: "What? For one thing, I DO NOT WORK FOR YOU! You asked my help for sh*t pay as a favour to get you through a rough time & you do no work at all." As I laid into him, he shrank like a defeated school yard bully. Life's too short to put up with that kind of c**p.
Rite aid stores are not allowed n Florida, Now i know why, Fla does not put up w/ employees being treated like c**p! Well karma hit, They closed alk their stored n South, Taken over by CVS & etc! They deserved what they got!☹
My entire shift, plant manager, secretary and even the mill log buyer quit when the owner called me and cursed me out because I had collapsed at work and had to be carried to the ER due to exhaustion after working for them 7 days a week 12 hour shifts for 5 years. He cursed me out because I didn't finish the last 15 minutes of my shift installing 3 blades that took the next shift leader a total of 10 minutes to install and thus the plant started up 20 minutes late. Naturally I told him to go "f**k himself and his mill" since I lived in a company house I was kicked out and charged 4 months rent which I refused to pay! The cost of lost production when everyone on an entire quit cost them so much finally pushed them to close the plant.. I was really humbled by those people walking out like that.
Company I worked for went through a merger. About 6 months later I was notified that my position had been eliminated and my final day would be in 2 weeks. Not once during those 2 weeks did anyone ask about the handing off of my duties. I supported 3 offices in 2 different states (Paid rent, utilities, landscaping, ordered office supplies, etc.) I was also the admin for the 120 people in my office and admin for the nationwide collections department. I did daily reports for nationwide customer service, input bills into the AP system, ordered supplies, etc. Not once did anyone ask about what I did. My former boss called on the Monday after my last day and asked if he could call if he had questions. NO.
Love that he signed the write up first. Means they couldn't just backpeddle and toss it out the window.
So what was the cause of the company (management) start going down hill ? Was there new management in play ?
C'mon be honest. You're Steve! Congrats on "Steve's" soon to be new baby
So he had his two weeks notice in an envelope when he went int work that day ??
I carry my notice for every job I start, just sign, date and leave. Saves time.
Load More Replies...If you 'stopped reading, then why are you here? Fake.
Load More Replies...I guarantee that this same thing happens over and over again. Boss offered me a management job, but only because that position was what I had been doing on overtime for years. Catch? Now I would be salaried instead of hourly.
Load More Replies...
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