Employee Laughs In Boss’ Face For Saying It’s “Unethical” To Make Plans After Work, Takes The Case To The Director Interview
Having a healthy work-life balance is important for everyone. It can be hard to resist the urge to send just one more email or make one more phone call, but when the clock strikes 5 on a Friday afternoon, it’s time to pack up your laptop and say goodbye to the office. Our jobs should not dictate our lives, and for the sake of our mental health and personal lives, we must set boundaries.
Recently, however, one employee was shamed by their manager for having the audacity to try to stop working… After his work hours were finished. Below, you can read the full story that was shared on the Antiwork subreddit, as well as an interview we were lucky enough to receive from the employee, and then let us know in the comments how you would have responded to this manager’s unreasonable expectations. Then, if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring a questionable boss, we recommend checking out this story next.
This employee recently shared online how his manager had unrealistic expectations for his working hours
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)
After sharing the original post, he continued to update readers on the situation
The manager continued trying to defend herself, but the employee was not having it
That's a big NO for me! My hours are my hours and I refuse to EVER come in early, stay late or cut my breaks short. If there is so much work to be done, that it can't be accomplished in my already 40 hours a week, they can hire more employees. I will never sacrifice MY time, f**k a company and f**k a job.
Pretty much same. I have a lot of medical reasons why going over my workday hours are bad but I don’t need to share them with my boss. When I say I can’t work past 5pm I mean it. (And don’t get me started on the ‘but you don’t have kids, therefore you can’t possibly have commitments that are important’ retort they’re so fond of)
I am my own commitment, as I am the most important person in my life.
That's what I said!
That must be nice. Meanwhile I work a job that is the definition of "flexible" for hours. My contract does not state a set amount of hours or days. I essentially just can't pass the state requirements for being overworked. Therefore I work anywhere from a 9 to 14 hour day, depending on what is needed. And work anywhere from 4 to 9 days in a row, depending on what is needed. It depends on the season, year, month, week, event going on in town, and general mood of our customers for my schedule. It gets changed at the drop on a hat, there are no scheduled breaks you just have to carve out time for a possible one, and from start to finish I deal with and manage (on average) 20 employees, 30 partnered independent contractors, and anywhere from 30 to 100 customers during my day, or night I should say, since I work graveyard. And I'm only 24. I appreciate the skills learned during this experience, and my breaking point. But, not the fact that I'm being used to no end...
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And that's why you'll be living out of your van some day pretending like it's all you've ever wanted from life. Grow up, Peter Pan. Sometimes adults have to put in a little more effort.
I came in early, skipped breaks, and stayed late at my first adult job in my early 20s. And I never did that again at any subsequent jobs. There is no reward for the employee in it that is worth having no life outside of work. I'm 50, and am doing very well in my career, without having to give my employer extra time. Haven't had to live in a vehicle yet. (Also, you're an AH because people become homeless for many reasons and people like you make them ashamed to ask for help).
Little does this little man know that not only am I controller for a multi million dollar business, but I also own my own business... making more money than he could fathom, WITHOUT having to sacrifice anything of myself for a company that is not mine! But, preach on Charles.
No, that's why we All need to behave like we're not wage slaves. Your attitude is the problem.
Sorry, I don't volunteer my time to for-profit businesses.
No, this is an employee and employer deal. If she as the manager felt the need to ask you to stay late, then she should have been fully prepared to reason or defend that position up the ladder. She was in the wrong and knows it, and now she knows that her little ploy will not be swept under the rug. She is on some weird power trip and needs to be put in her place, which sounds like your director might just be willing to do. Good on you mate.
I’m sure the OP isn’t totally rigid about their hours, and that if an emergency came up that merited staying late, they’d do it in a heartbeat to help out. But to expect it on the regular, when there is no emergency, is downright cruel and exploitative. I’m so glad the pendulum amongst workers is swinging so hard toward work-life balance nowadays—-I used to be one of the few who tried to achieve it, and back then it actually hurt my chances for advancement. I saw so many incompetent people get promotions and raises, only to totally f**k up jobs they could not do, but that I could do in my sleep, simply because they goofed off from 9am to 4pm, then managed to look busy when the manager did a walkthrough at 5pm, while I had actually worked all day, when the manager was hiding in their office, and was packing up to leave. And management has the f*****g gall to be totally mystified as to why employees job hop.
I would be rigid about my hours. These employers have zero love or loyalty to employees. Why would we bend to "help" them out? We could be tossed on our a**e at any time when it suits the company needs. Naw, those days are over.
Being flexible and working extra hours because of an emergency doesn't mean you have to do it for free without any compensation. You can be rigid about your hours and be flexible at the same time. In Dutch we have an expression 'time for time' which means that overtime is not paid, but you can compensate for the extra hours by working fewer hours on another day. But if this flexibility isn't part of your job description I consider it a voluntary choice and not an obligation. An employer cannot expect or demand an employee to work extra hours without proper compensation, as a labor contract is a legally binding contract between both parties and therefore both parties have to stick to it. Any employer who does not is a bad employer. It seems the writer of this story has a bad manager but a great employer.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
He has since updated and and his district manager whom he thought would side with him explain that he has to work from eight to six every day not nine to five... here's somebody that's whining about how many hours they have to work and they didn't even know that they were late every day and leaving early every day
I agree that if your manager is an a*s why would you want to help them? However if it's a fellow employee who is in a very rare bad spot I wouldn't think twice to cover for them. No one is an island and having someone have your back can be a wonderful thing ! Of course if that becomes a regular thing then I would need to clearly explain the issue but in 30+ years it's never been an issue. For me at least
Sounds like his director does have love and loyalty to his employees....
This comment has been deleted.
Clearly none of yall work at a prison. We are expected to stay until we are relieved. While I am unwilling to give my free time to the agency I don't exactly have much of a choice compared to you 9-5 people.
You choose to continue working there knowing that's the status quo so you in a way you do have a choice. Edit: accidentally posted before I finished typing
You also have a union and get time and a half for the overtime
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That's why you make your own career and don't just have a job if you've never been a manager then go try to be one...keyword "try"
It's really difficult to read your sentence with no punctuation. It also makes people much less likely to listen to your advice.
I was like you. Always going over and above what was expected. It was in my DNA . If I saw something that needed to be done, and I could manage it, it got done. So in the end who is recognized for their efforts? Not me. The younger, and overpaid slack offs, who wouldn't dream of ever doing anything outside of their job description. This is a learned behavior, and totally management's fault. These slackers caused the work day to exceed the normal 8hrs, and came off like hero's when they offered to stay. Of course this also meant overtime pay in their pockets. It my books it's called stealing company time. Guess some peoples priorities are warped.
the only time an "emergency" would merit staying late is if op worked for an emergency service or maybe a power company that was about to have a black out or meltdown
That's a big NO for me! My hours are my hours and I refuse to EVER come in early, stay late or cut my breaks short. If there is so much work to be done, that it can't be accomplished in my already 40 hours a week, they can hire more employees. I will never sacrifice MY time, f**k a company and f**k a job.
Pretty much same. I have a lot of medical reasons why going over my workday hours are bad but I don’t need to share them with my boss. When I say I can’t work past 5pm I mean it. (And don’t get me started on the ‘but you don’t have kids, therefore you can’t possibly have commitments that are important’ retort they’re so fond of)
I am my own commitment, as I am the most important person in my life.
That's what I said!
That must be nice. Meanwhile I work a job that is the definition of "flexible" for hours. My contract does not state a set amount of hours or days. I essentially just can't pass the state requirements for being overworked. Therefore I work anywhere from a 9 to 14 hour day, depending on what is needed. And work anywhere from 4 to 9 days in a row, depending on what is needed. It depends on the season, year, month, week, event going on in town, and general mood of our customers for my schedule. It gets changed at the drop on a hat, there are no scheduled breaks you just have to carve out time for a possible one, and from start to finish I deal with and manage (on average) 20 employees, 30 partnered independent contractors, and anywhere from 30 to 100 customers during my day, or night I should say, since I work graveyard. And I'm only 24. I appreciate the skills learned during this experience, and my breaking point. But, not the fact that I'm being used to no end...
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
And that's why you'll be living out of your van some day pretending like it's all you've ever wanted from life. Grow up, Peter Pan. Sometimes adults have to put in a little more effort.
I came in early, skipped breaks, and stayed late at my first adult job in my early 20s. And I never did that again at any subsequent jobs. There is no reward for the employee in it that is worth having no life outside of work. I'm 50, and am doing very well in my career, without having to give my employer extra time. Haven't had to live in a vehicle yet. (Also, you're an AH because people become homeless for many reasons and people like you make them ashamed to ask for help).
Little does this little man know that not only am I controller for a multi million dollar business, but I also own my own business... making more money than he could fathom, WITHOUT having to sacrifice anything of myself for a company that is not mine! But, preach on Charles.
No, that's why we All need to behave like we're not wage slaves. Your attitude is the problem.
Sorry, I don't volunteer my time to for-profit businesses.
No, this is an employee and employer deal. If she as the manager felt the need to ask you to stay late, then she should have been fully prepared to reason or defend that position up the ladder. She was in the wrong and knows it, and now she knows that her little ploy will not be swept under the rug. She is on some weird power trip and needs to be put in her place, which sounds like your director might just be willing to do. Good on you mate.
I’m sure the OP isn’t totally rigid about their hours, and that if an emergency came up that merited staying late, they’d do it in a heartbeat to help out. But to expect it on the regular, when there is no emergency, is downright cruel and exploitative. I’m so glad the pendulum amongst workers is swinging so hard toward work-life balance nowadays—-I used to be one of the few who tried to achieve it, and back then it actually hurt my chances for advancement. I saw so many incompetent people get promotions and raises, only to totally f**k up jobs they could not do, but that I could do in my sleep, simply because they goofed off from 9am to 4pm, then managed to look busy when the manager did a walkthrough at 5pm, while I had actually worked all day, when the manager was hiding in their office, and was packing up to leave. And management has the f*****g gall to be totally mystified as to why employees job hop.
I would be rigid about my hours. These employers have zero love or loyalty to employees. Why would we bend to "help" them out? We could be tossed on our a**e at any time when it suits the company needs. Naw, those days are over.
Being flexible and working extra hours because of an emergency doesn't mean you have to do it for free without any compensation. You can be rigid about your hours and be flexible at the same time. In Dutch we have an expression 'time for time' which means that overtime is not paid, but you can compensate for the extra hours by working fewer hours on another day. But if this flexibility isn't part of your job description I consider it a voluntary choice and not an obligation. An employer cannot expect or demand an employee to work extra hours without proper compensation, as a labor contract is a legally binding contract between both parties and therefore both parties have to stick to it. Any employer who does not is a bad employer. It seems the writer of this story has a bad manager but a great employer.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
He has since updated and and his district manager whom he thought would side with him explain that he has to work from eight to six every day not nine to five... here's somebody that's whining about how many hours they have to work and they didn't even know that they were late every day and leaving early every day
I agree that if your manager is an a*s why would you want to help them? However if it's a fellow employee who is in a very rare bad spot I wouldn't think twice to cover for them. No one is an island and having someone have your back can be a wonderful thing ! Of course if that becomes a regular thing then I would need to clearly explain the issue but in 30+ years it's never been an issue. For me at least
Sounds like his director does have love and loyalty to his employees....
This comment has been deleted.
Clearly none of yall work at a prison. We are expected to stay until we are relieved. While I am unwilling to give my free time to the agency I don't exactly have much of a choice compared to you 9-5 people.
You choose to continue working there knowing that's the status quo so you in a way you do have a choice. Edit: accidentally posted before I finished typing
You also have a union and get time and a half for the overtime
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That's why you make your own career and don't just have a job if you've never been a manager then go try to be one...keyword "try"
It's really difficult to read your sentence with no punctuation. It also makes people much less likely to listen to your advice.
I was like you. Always going over and above what was expected. It was in my DNA . If I saw something that needed to be done, and I could manage it, it got done. So in the end who is recognized for their efforts? Not me. The younger, and overpaid slack offs, who wouldn't dream of ever doing anything outside of their job description. This is a learned behavior, and totally management's fault. These slackers caused the work day to exceed the normal 8hrs, and came off like hero's when they offered to stay. Of course this also meant overtime pay in their pockets. It my books it's called stealing company time. Guess some peoples priorities are warped.
the only time an "emergency" would merit staying late is if op worked for an emergency service or maybe a power company that was about to have a black out or meltdown