'I'm not taking an hour off. I'm leaving. For good': Boss constantly tells employee she could be 'fired for no cause,' employee plots their escape plan

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Oct 7, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

This boss kept reminding their employee over and over just how disposable they were. It's no wonder the employee got really tired of hearing that!

This boss must not care about workplace morale at all. If she did, she wouldn't speak to her employees in such a degrading tone. The OP, u/Public_Pressure_4516, shared they were working at a bank, but just as a part time gig. The OP is also a part-time teacher, but we all know how America treats its teachers---low pay and no benefits. So they needed that bank job desperately, since without it, they and their family would be without health care. 

Having a boss who constantly negs everything you do can really wear you down, though. It's hard to do your best when your boss only focuses on everything you do worst. This employee also had a very awkward situation arise. They kept having a teller drawer that was a few dollars short at the end of the day. Banks take that kind of thing super seriously, and that mean that every employee had to stay late! 

Up next, Gen Xers had a great childhood playing outside with friends and coming home when the street lamps came on… so if that was you, you'll find these memes pretty relatable. 

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  • 01
    Font - 'Customers kept asking me why I was so happy. I was delighted to tell them' GOL
    via Mufid Majnun on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - "At will" employment cuts both ways, sister! MOC A few years ago, my husband was laid off at the start of summer. I had a part-time gig as a teacher, but it didn't come with benefits. I had to take a job, any job, to provide health insurance (Murka!) while hubby looked for a new gig. I got a job as a teller at a bank.
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 03
    Font - I tried, but was new to keeping a till, so a few times a week, my register wouldn't balance. Never very much money - under a few dollars. But the whole staff had to stay late until we straightened it out. I felt horrible for the rest of the staff. As if that shame wasn't
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 04
    Font - bad enough, my supervisor, "Mel," would remind me that I worked "at will" and they could fire me at any time. Our family's health insurance going up in smoke was terrifying to me. Sometimes it was hard to hold back tears.
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 05
    Font - I got better as the summer went on, but every few weeks, if I would make a mistake, Mel would smile as she warned me that "You can be fired for no cause and you'd have to leave immediately." It was so
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 06
    Font - fantastically over-the-top. At one point, I pointed out that constant threats didn't create a healthy environment. Her smile only broadened. "It goes both ways. You can quit at any time, you know."
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 07
    Font - When the school year started in the fall, I needed to take my daughter to tour her new school for her first day. I asked to take my lunch in the afternoon, so I could help my daughter. Though they approved it, when it came time for
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 08
    Font - my lunch, they insisted I work through my lunch because they were being slammed.. By then, hubs had found a job with insurance and, even. better, I'd been offered more hours teaching, the still not full-time. It was enough.
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 09
    Font - The next day I practically floated into the bank. I waited until 10 am, then told Mel I needed to talk with her. She replied that she was very busy and it would have to wait until after we closed. "Oh, I won't
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 10
    Font - be here then," I said. She looked like I'd smacked her with a brick. "Wut?" I smiled. "Remember that I needed to bring my daughter to her new school yesterday? You wouldn't let me do that, so I'm doing it this afternoon." She didn't
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 11
    Font - get it at all. "You can't just take an hour off when you-" I had to interrupt. "I'm not taking an hour off. I'm leaving. For good. At noon. You kept reminding me that I work "at will." Thanks for those reminders. I'm leaving for good in two hours."
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 12
    Font - While Mel fumed, I waited on customers. I practically sang my greetings to them and was so f cheerful, customers kept asking me why I was so happy. :). I
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 13
    Font - was delighted to tell them, "Because I'm leaving forever at noon!" After a half hour of that, Mel thought I should just go right away. And I did. I f skipped right out the door, then gave Mel a very elaborate curtsey at the door. :)
    via u/Public_Pressure_4516
  • 14
    Font - Proud_Positive_2998. I wish corporate and HR would look into why so many employees are leaving. But we had the same thing where I worked and both hid their heads in the sand.
    via u/Proud_Positive_2998
  • 15
    Font - TheRealFedral Love it. I once quit a job on the spot, and had the manager say "It is customary to give two weeks notice." I said "If you decided to let me go, would you have given me two weeks warning?" He didn't have an answer, so I walked right out.
    via u/TheRealFedral
  • 16
    Font - series-hybrid I read a quote somewhere about how "you only truly get to know someone's character once they think they have enough power over you that they can do anything they want with no consequences" Mel did not fear being fired, and she took someone who was vulnerable and kept her in a constant state of fear. Why would someone do that?
    via u/series-hybrid
  • 17
    Font - Baileythenerd Had a manager at AT&T start every conversation with me with the thinly veiled threat "Now I know you need this job..." because I wouldn't lie to customers or commit fraud to keep her numbers up. (She couldn't threaten my job outright because it was union) After 3 months of it I had decided it was enough and started job hunting. Found a government IT internship (that has since evolved into a full blown career) about two months into my search.
    via u/Baileythenerd
  • 18
    Font - As soon as I had confirmation that I got that paid internship, I waited- The next time Crystal said the magic words "Now, Bailey, I know you need this job..." And I piped up "You know what? I don't need this job. Consider this my two-weeks" Felt like a couple tons of bricks were lifted from my very soul.
    via u/Baileythenerd
  • 19
    LordGalen Mel is not only a d but clearly doesn't understand her own job. Multiple monetary discrepensies is cause for firing someone. She could have legit fired you for a valid reason, but instead wanted to be a piece of s to you. The fact that you could have been fired makes this even worse, imo, because it means Mel kept you around just so she'd have someone to buy. She didn't actually want you gone; you were her favorite punching bag.
    via u/LordGalen

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malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit boss workplace-stories jobs toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers workplace toxic-work-environment
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