'We didn't sell enough to pay you guys': Bakery owner late on payroll, employee calls her out, boss sends condescending text

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 14, 2023 8:00 AM EST

Imagine your boss not paying you and then giving you a lecture about your inability to handle finances well! It takes a special kind of cognitive dissonance and tunnel vision to have that level of audacity. It's the kind of narcissistic "main character syndrome" behavior we have seen in a lot of anecdotes about horrible bosses here at FAIL Blog. 

What's especially amusing here, however, is that when this boss was backed into a corner about being late on payroll, instead of owning up to her mistake, she decided to go on the offensive and use this moment as an opportunity to make it seem like the employee was at fault. But here's the truth: the only thing the employee did that was wrong here was agreeing to get paid under the table and not calling the IRS on this ridiculous excuse of a bakery owner.

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  • 01
    and ny way i can "My Boss Sent Me orrow? i This Text" such No i didn't because as of right now we didn't sell enough to pay you guys. That is how slow it is so. I will try to figure it out tomorrow. But since you are sharing with me about your food situation i will share with you when i was your age and Delivered
    via u/queerm***sttrekkie

  • This thread was posted to Reddit by u/queerm***isttrekkie, who had previously confided in his boss about his family's financial situation. Little did he know, his boss would then use that information against him in her unwanted lecture. 

    Keep scrolling below to read the full text exchange and to see how people responded in the comments section. When you're finished, feel free to take a look at this collection of crazy job interview questions candidates actually asked.

  • 02
    r/antiwork Posted bv 4 hours ago my boss sent me this text after asking to be paid
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  • 03
    2:26 New name and photo available Today 2:15 PM Hey so we are gonna cut tomorrow because of business so you are off. I will see you Wednesday Update okay! did you happen to do payroll on saturday, and if so is there any way i can pick my money up today or tomorrow? i need to get some groceries and such X Delivered
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 04
    No i didn't because as of right now we didn't sell enough to pay you guys. That is how slow it is so. I will try to figure it out tomorrow. But since you are sharing with me about your food situation i will share with you when i was your age and poor (which iwas for years) i ate pasta and p&j and packed my lunch. So while that may | totally (i know first hand it does cuz i did it all through collage and about 6 years into my twenties and then again the first 5 years of 's life) perhaps you may w
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 05
    i (21M) work in a very small bakery in upstate NY. my boss (52F) is the owner of the bakery. i get paid under the table in cash. we work alone together a lot of the time, and so we have opened up to each other about a lot of things. when i opened up to her about my family's financial situation, it was because i trusted her. i did not do so for pity, nor did i expect to have it used against me. lately she has been paying me late, and so occasionally i'll ask if she's done payroll bc i need to get
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 06
    13chase24 hr. ago Time to quit ↑ 5.4k Reply Share
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  • 07
    FriendlySquall. 4 hr. ago Definitely. It'll never get better. ↑ 1.0k Reply Share
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  • 08
    potential_human0 - 4 hr. ago Being paid "under the table" only benefits the employer by not having to pay taxes and insurance. If they don't make enough money to legally participate in the economy, they shouldn't exist as a business. Step 1: find new employment. Step 2: Report to IRS 3.0k Reply Share
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  • 09
    BRILL totowolfie95. 4 hr. ago "Perhaps you want to budget for that" Says the employer who won't pay her employees ↑ 2.9k Reply Share
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  • 10
    TheExtra404 - 4 hr. ago Remember. Your boss and the company( small or big no difference typically) are not your friends... Overwhelmingly never will be. There are exceptions to this, but I wouldn't say anything about my personal life at work like that. Sorry to see your boss be like that after you trusted her though. 1.4k Reply Share
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 11
    calledtothecraft - 4 hr. ago this job. You deserve to be able to afford balanced nutrition. 555 Reply Share
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  • 12
    lolbojack 4 hr. ago Report this tool for wage theft. 455 Reply Share
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  • 13
    taxpayinmeemaw. 4 hr. ago She's lying, if she didn't make enough money to pay OP, she should be out of business 189 Reply Share
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  • 14
    buhesass 4 hr. ago Boohoo poor boss! Maybe don't employ people then and pick up the shifts if you make less than your employees! 170 Reply Share
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  • 15
    MainlineStreet - 4 hr. ago OP, I was in exactly the same situation many years ago around your age. Boss couldn't afford to pay me, but kept promising money was on the way, and I just had to continue working.
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  • 16
    I ended up around $3000 in the hole, all told, and eventually got evicted and lost everything I owned. Had to live outdoors. Yes, homeless, with no legal recourse, because like you, I was working illegally. Boss stopped answering the phone and ended up skipping town. Last I heard he was arrested for unrelated charges. As you can imagine I never saw a dime of the money owed me.
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 17
    What's worse is that I ended up owing other people money because I was borrowing to get by, which created a whole set of other problems including people coming to shake me down. At that point I was very desperate to find jobs again and being homeless made it really difficult. I ended up in a lot of shady (illegal) working situations, eating out of food banks, couch surfing, sleeping outdoors. It was not the greatest.
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 18
    Your best bet is to immediately stop working there. Do not go back. You will end up worse and worse. If you eventually see your money, great, but the truth is that you are probably not going to get what is owed you.
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 19
    Use your time to get another job, even through a temp agency so you can start getting paid while you look for stable employment. Do not ever work under the table. 142 Reply Share
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  • 20
    sterphles 4 hr. ago What about that "collage" education? Also it seems like she's poor right now too if she can't afford to pay you. I'd feel such intense shame if I ever missed payroll that I'd be scrambling to make it up out of my own pockets. 115 Reply Share
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 21
    Wolfman01a 4 hr. ago . THE HILLS ARE ALIIIIVE WITH THE SOUND OF PHONE CALLS TO THE IRS! by PurzBeats via GIPHY 113 Reply Share
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  • 22
    Tallguy71 4 hr. ago "I'm not interested in stories about your past... those doesn't pay my bills. As an owner, you are legally obligated to pay me for my work. Things going 'slow' in business is a risk you, as an owner, take and have to plan for. I expect to be paid by the end of the week. If you're not able to, please tell me now so I can start getting some legal help with this." "Also telling ME that I need to budget while you aren't even able to pay me sounds quite ridiculous, doesn't it."
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie
  • 23
    IndigoGrunt 4 hr. ago Perhaps she should budget to pay her employees if she wants to run a business.
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  • 24
    sarabatgirl 4 hr. ago Yeah agree with the others. It is time to get a new job. They are paying you under the table so they can you around like this. Also, groceries cost twice what they did two years ago so your boss is especially gross for these comments.
    via u/queerm***isttrekkie

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boss workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work toxic-boss Horrible Bosses reddit thread Reddit company toxic-work-environment
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