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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.
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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
Image credits: MART PRODUCTION (not the actual photo)
Finally, the dramatic saga came to a close
Credits: Porongas1993
We reached out to the employee in the story, Porongas1993 on Reddit, to hear if this was the first time he had been expected to work longer hours at this job. “It’s not the first time it’s been expected, but it definitely was the first time where it was not communicated to me,” he told Bored Panda. “It was also the first time it happened with this new manager, so it probably has something to do with that.” We also asked how he felt about management at his work and if this situation changed his opinion on the company. “Ever since this new manager started working here, everything has felt micromanaged and none of us like it,” he shared. “But it didn’t change my view of the company.”
We also asked if he believes his job allows him to maintain a healthy work-life balance. “I would say for the most part it does provide a good balance. Being in IT, we sometimes have to sacrifice though,” he admitted. Lastly, he added, “One thing I told people is that it’s not necessarily that I am opposed to working after hours. I understand my field sometimes requires it. But I would at least like the courtesy of communication and to be properly compensated for it.”
And that is exactly the point: managers owe their employees respect, and they must be up front with communication and pay their employees accordingly. In the United States, for example, employers can ask workers to put in more than their scheduled hours, as the Fair Labor Standards Act does not technically put any limits on the amount of hours employees can work per week. But they have to compensate workers appropriately. If an employee works over 40 hours in one week, they are entitled to overtime pay for all of that excess time. Of course, if a meeting runs 15 minutes past, it would not make a huge difference. But the crux of the issue is that companies need to be stringent about their rules. If they expect employees to work over their hours here and there, it can really add up. And I’m sure this manager would not be thrilled with employees showing up 15 minutes late in the mornings to make up for that time either.
Thankfully, the author of this post did end up working everything out with their employer, and I hope it is safe to assume that this manager learned their lesson, but this issue should have never arisen in the first place. It’s time for employers to stop acting entitled to their staff’s entire lives and start respecting their time and boundaries. Have you ever had to deal with a manager like this? We would love to get your thoughts on this situation in the comments, and if you have any similar stories to share with your fellow pandas, feel free to drop them down below.
Readers have weighed in criticizing the manager and the toxic expectations that many work environments have
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What do you think ?
artbyce 2 years ago
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.
Helen Waight 2 years ago
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)
Load More Replies...
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago (edited)
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.
N Goodman 2 years ago
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.
Load More Replies...
SPQRBob 2 years ago
These are the same managers that will tell you that you should have "planned better/left earlier" when you are made late due to no fault of your own, like a traffic accident with a fatality leaving you at a standstill in a traffic jam for over an hour. Like I'm going to get up, get dressed, and leave for work 2 hours early every day just in case. But God forbid you make personal plans and and something unexpected comes up at work. If you used the same logic on them when asked to work late and told them (over your shoulder as you were leaving for the day) "Well, you should have planned better....", I wonder how they'd react? #SoFired #Insubordination #DoAsISayNotAsIDo
Denise Painter 2 years ago
I worked for a popular sneaker brand for a while and they sent around a memo that said "You are to work your hours and your hours only." It was signed by the head manager. I framed it and put it up in my cube. Every time my supe (whom I detested) came to see me about working over, I just pointed at the memo. Made her crazy. It was originally sent out because some employees switched around so many hours that some people were working 50 or 60 hours a week and the company didn't want any overtime at that time. But the head manager never rescinded it. She wrote on a review that I was not a team player. I told her to write down under that statement exactly how I was not a team player, so she wrote that I would not stay after my scheduled shift when they had need of me off schedule. I went to my desk, made a copy of the memo and came back and stapled it to the back of the review, then printed in sharpie underneath "Please see department memo dated xxx and signed by Mr. Big that states blah."
Load More Replies... artbyce 2 years ago
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.
Helen Waight 2 years ago
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)
Load More Replies... Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago (edited)
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.
N Goodman 2 years ago
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.
Load More Replies... SPQRBob 2 years ago
These are the same managers that will tell you that you should have "planned better/left earlier" when you are made late due to no fault of your own, like a traffic accident with a fatality leaving you at a standstill in a traffic jam for over an hour. Like I'm going to get up, get dressed, and leave for work 2 hours early every day just in case. But God forbid you make personal plans and and something unexpected comes up at work. If you used the same logic on them when asked to work late and told them (over your shoulder as you were leaving for the day) "Well, you should have planned better....", I wonder how they'd react? #SoFired #Insubordination #DoAsISayNotAsIDo
Denise Painter 2 years ago
I worked for a popular sneaker brand for a while and they sent around a memo that said "You are to work your hours and your hours only." It was signed by the head manager. I framed it and put it up in my cube. Every time my supe (whom I detested) came to see me about working over, I just pointed at the memo. Made her crazy. It was originally sent out because some employees switched around so many hours that some people were working 50 or 60 hours a week and the company didn't want any overtime at that time. But the head manager never rescinded it. She wrote on a review that I was not a team player. I told her to write down under that statement exactly how I was not a team player, so she wrote that I would not stay after my scheduled shift when they had need of me off schedule. I went to my desk, made a copy of the memo and came back and stapled it to the back of the review, then printed in sharpie underneath "Please see department memo dated xxx and signed by Mr. Big that states blah."
Load More Replies... Related on Bored Panda
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