Where does it say in this employee's contract that they are obligated to give up their first class seat to their boss? This is the kind of nonsense that infuriates workers and causes them to lose trust in their places of work. Sure, it's pretty expected that most workplace environments have a hierarchical structure. That's reflected in the structure of teams, the division of responsibilities, and, of course, pay. However, there should be no rule or implied rule stating that this sense of hierarchy should extend to other dynamics out of the office. Even if the employee and their boss are on a business trip together, the difference in their seat numbers should have absolutely nothing to do with their level of status at work.
This is especially true in this instance because the employee booked their flight on their own. Because they are a frequent traveler, their flight status was upgraded to first class. Their boss was not too happy about this situation and decided that the two of them needed to have a talk after the flight about respect for the work hierarchy, as if the boss was somehow entitled to that first class seat. Yup, you read that correctly. We believe that there is absolutely no way this boss is going to get away with this completely entitled perspective, as there is no way the employee's contract says anything about giving up their personal seat on a flight. Regardless of what happens, we also recommend that the employee start looking elsewhere because this work hierarchy is wildly outdated.
For more stories like this, here is another post about an employee who was unjustly dismissed by a power-tripping manager.
Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.