'It's mandatory': Worker gets fired for not attending an unpaid "cleaning party" with two-hour's notice

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

May 2, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

You'd probably be horrified at how common these types of requirements are within certain industries. The industries where manipulative employers tell you with a smile that you're a "family"… while simultaneously plotting how they can squeeze as much unpaid labor out of you as possible.

Working in the service and retail industries is no walk in the park—that should not come as a great surprise to anybody. The frantic and inconsistent demands of these businesses place considerable strain on staff. They can drive the owners to seek to cut costs wherever possible in constant anticipation of suddenly reduced revenue. Often, the easiest cost to cut is labor, leading staffing to become razor-thin and for the owner to disguise free labor as "team bonding" whenever possible.

This Redditor, u/L3wdMegumin, shared screenshots of an exchange between themself and their new boss to Reddit's r/antiwork subreddit. As the screenshots show, their boss gave them last-minute notice that they needed to attend a mandatory "cleaning party" in which workers were expected to come and clean the restaurant where they worked outside of scheduled hours. The sheer number of commenters who responded with knowledge of what a "cleaning party" is within restaurant workplaces shows how common the practice is in the industry.

Keep reading to see the screenshots and commenters' responses. For more, check out this restaurant manager who a Karen accosted at a place where they didn't even work.