'Suggest a solution': Manager forces employee to manage herself after scheduling her on her day off

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Jan 11, 2024 6:00 PM EST

There's nothing worse than a manager who can't manage. It's in their title to make sure all the people working below them are doing what they're supposed to do, and they can't even swing that! I'm sure we've all been under the guidance of a manager who throws up their hands in frustration whenever they have to make any hard decision. They will tell employees, "figure it out yourself" when they schedule them for times they're unavailable. They throw workers' problems back in their faces, asking them to "give me a solution" instead of working through the problem together. They refuse to deign themselves to work a shift when they're short-staffed because they believe that "taking one for the team" is a one-way street. One of those manager's interactions with their employee recently went viral on Reddit, with Redditors being baffled at their demand for their employee to "suggest a solution" to the problem the manager created. 

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  • 01
    r/antiwork u/brioneb06 16h ● "Suggest a solution" got me rileddd. Management
    via u/brioneb06
  • 02
    I have plans the Friday night through to Sunday so cannot pick up that Saturday shift Unfortunately that has what has been rostered I'm afraid not But we have a set roster? With any mention of a change happening from the 28th Jan onwards 09:03 08:54 Suggest a solution then 08:33 09:08 Since when? Any talk of changing rosters has been mentioned for after the 28th Jan so I have made plans around the current roster. I can't pick that shift up 09:04 08:55 Why is it for me to suggest a solution on my
    via u/brioneb06
  • 03
    GargantuanGreenGoats • 15h "Suggest a solution" "I suggest you do a better job of managing the schedule". Reply 4 10.2k
    via u/GargantuanGreenGoats
  • 04
    Neither_Most • 10h "This is why you get paid the big bucks, YOU have to find a solution 41.7k ↓
    via u/Neither_Most
  • 05
    MazeMouse • 10h here for the memes Which is just the more polite version of "I suggest you fix your own fuckup" 597
    via u/MazeMouse
  • 06
    mrminutehand - 8h ● This was my last manager, trying to dock pay because I hadn't found a cover before the start of work on an emergency sick day. Let's see what'd be more efficient: my phone on speaker cold-calling colleagues between the occasional roar of vomit and warm splatter of diarrhea against the toilet bowl, vs. your comfy office with a computer, internet, phone, and list of every colleague in the building.
    via u/mrminutehand
  • 07
    It's almost as if it's easier for one of those people to, well, manage the situation. Perhaps my manager just hadn't yet made the connection between managing affairs and the title of manager. Nobody likes an unexpected cover request, but I'd guess that my colleagues would prefer to hear one from a manager and not my watery norovirus through a phone sinking down the toilet bowl. Next time I'm flattened by a bus, lost a limb or fallen down a mountain, I'm sure the paramedic, coroner or hit and run
    via u/mrminutehand
  • 08
    D luke31071 16h "Suggest a solution" Ok, I suggest you work the shift since I can't "That won't do, I can't work then either as I have other commitments" Oh well, guess you better suggest a solution to your boss then Reply 5.1k
    via u/luke31071
  • 09
    brioneb06 OP. 16h Wish I'd have thought to say "my suggestion is you work" They still think imma be here on Saturday G 2.1k
    via u/brioneb06
  • 10
    pourthebubbly . 11h Soc Dem That happened to me once at university. I worked in a sandwich shop and requested a weekend off months in advance because I had a commitment in my hometown. I got a call at like 2:30pm on the Saturday from my manager saying I was scheduled at 2 and asking where I was. All I said was I was out of town. He tried to argue that my time off had been denied, but that. What was I supposed to do about it? So I just told him again that I was out of town and he should figure it
    via u/pourthebubbly
  • 11
    I think the only reason I wasn't fired is because he was only like three years older and kind of scared of me. Turned out he denied it because he had a party to go to that night (that was only planned like a week before), so I gave even fewer about it when he was huffy with me when I got back. ... 195
    via u/pourthebubbly
  • 12
    WearDifficult9776 • 16h You're the manager. I am not the manager. Get in touch with people and see if someone is able and willing to take the shift. Perhaps offer an incentive Reply 4 1.1k ↓ ...
    via u/WearDifficult9776
  • 13
    Attygalle 14h ● Everyone trips over "suggest a solution" but I was done already after "Unfortunately that has what has been rostered". Passive sentence where someone, most likely the manager that's uttering the passive sentence, actively did it. Phrasing it like the roster magically showed up and no one is accountable for making the roster. This is like Putin saying "unfortunately Ukraine has been invaded". Reply ... 971
    via u/Attygalle
  • 14
    Complete-Ad2227 • 16h how are they a manager when they won't actually do management duties??? makes zero sense. Reply 363
    via u/Complete-Ad2227
  • 15
    alexana0 14h ● I recently interviewed for an assistant position. The people in the interview were the coordinator and manager above me. They were asking management questions like how I would manage rosters, performance issues, conflicts, etc. All I could think was do you even do if I'd be doing all that as the assistant? I'm still puzzled. ... 4229
    via u/alexana0

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Tags

management schedule antiwork toxic-manager day off employee manager work toxic-management managers Reddit toxic-workplace toxic-boss toxic-work-environment
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