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A Redditor has gone viral after sharing a recent interaction with his boss that left the internet debating just how much an employee owes their employer—particularly on days off.
Redditor, YoloCowboy, shared a screenshot on the subreddit "r/antiwork," which showed a text exchange between him and his manager in a post that has been voted on over 17,000 times.
"S**tty manager tried to get me to come in with less than an hour notice," the Redditor captioned the screenshot.
"Hey I know you live kinda far but a couple people called out today—could you come in," the text exchange began.
YoloCowboy told Newsweek over Reddit that while he has had poor managers in the past, "this takes the cake."
The Redditor wrote "surely you understand?" to his manager after explaining that arriving in 48 minutes would be difficult given he lives out of state and it was such short notice on a Sunday.
"I understand nothing," the manager responded back. "[Redacted], we've spoken about your unwillingness to come into work on call. We're a team here and you're acting like a bench player. Can I count on you?"
The Redditor told Newsweek that after this exchange he decided not to go into work.
"I did not go into the shift," he told Newsweek. "Either way I was going to be quitting or fired so I enjoyed my time relaxing at home—waiting for the fallout. I considered going in but when he mentioned my 'unwillingness' I decided to stick to my guns."
They said the next morning they received a call from HR confirming his resignation and asking where to send his final check.
The post gained traction with many people commenting that employees do not owe their employers detailed explanations into why they can't make it into work—especially with last-minute requests.
"'sorry i'm busy' is also perfectly valid," one Redditor commented.
Many chimed in to say that if a boss texts during time off, simply ignore the message altogether.
"Do. Not. Answer. Your. Phone. When. Not. Working," one person wrote.
"[U]nless you have a contract that specifies that you will [respond] to messages on days off, just don't. If asked, just say I turned my phone off for the day to relax and destress, so I never got your message," another person added.
"I definitely understand not responding at all—and that's totally valid for some, but if a manager is creating an overly stressful work life or just generally being [s**tty]—there's no reason to 'not respond' and keep going to work everyday [sic] for someone who will no doubt berate you for not responding," YoloCowboy told Newsweek. "Either way you have to deal with a p**sed-off manager, and for me it was a decision I stand by! I had had enough and there's no better way to send that message than quitting."
