Update: 'Biggest payday of my life for 2 minutes of work': Contractor spends entire weekend at work after being told to "stay as long as it takes"

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 14, 2024 11:00 AM EST

This bank worker had one of the strangest weekends of their life. 

Three-day weekends are a beautiful thing to look forward to. After that Friday's over, you have a full Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to travel or relax or sleep a lot. When you spend so much time at work, having a little bonus day off is a great feeling. 

This person was probably looking forward to their own three-day weekend, but their boss didn't let them enjoy it at all. As a contract worker, it seems like the OP, u/erikestradaslada, didn't have much of a say in their own working hours. When an emergency comes up, sometimes you just have to sacrifice your own time to fix it. It shouldn't be that way, of course---that's not a good work/life balance. At least the OP did get some payback on the company for wasting so much of their time. They deserve an honorary three-day weekend to make up for all of the company's shenanigans. 

Check out the story, plus a nice update from OP. Then, this volunteer teacher was given an ultimatum by their boss, and as the volunteer writes, "He did not think I'd throw out 50 computers."

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  • 01
    'You taught them a very valuable lesson'
    via Floriane Vita on Unsplash
  • 02
    Biggest Payday of My Life for 2 Minutes of Work M Another tech story: I'm a contractor at a big bank in New York City. No benefits but I'm paid by the hour. I like the people I work for and while I realize I get paid well, I try to make sure they get their money's worth.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 03
    On the Friday before last (start to the three-day weekend), I was told by one of the managers (mine is out on vacation) that one of "my"applications was malfunctioning in production and that it absolutely needed to be fixed pronto. This application was tested to a crazy degree, so the first thing I did was call up the server admin and ask what was different between our test and
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 04
    production systems. After some prodding, I figure out that the production system consists of two clustered servers whereas the test server is all on its own. On the theory that the data isn't transferring between the paired servers fast enough for the next web page to be rendered (it's a survey application where the answer to one question
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 05
    determines the next question to be asked), I suggest checking the "sticky bit" (which would ensure that when a person uses the application, they will "stick" to one server, to eliminate the data transfer problem.)
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 06
    The admin (who's a friend of mine) tells me she can't make that change without her department's manager's approval, a kind of know-it-all guy.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 07
    Fine. I tell my substitute manager what I think the problem is (thinking he'll go to bat for me) and instead, he tells me to "stay as long as it takes, including giving up my weekend to ensure it's working" and he tells me I'll have to work it out with the department manager for the server group.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 08
    Long story only slightly shorter, that guy proceeds to make my and his two employees' lives miserable all weekend. I keep suggesting the sticky bit, he keeps telling me "there's no way that's it" and suggests dumb strategy after dumb strategy. I keep telling my substitute manager what's happening, he keeps telling me to work it out...and stay as long as I need to.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 09
    Finally, late on Columbus Day, my admin friend says "I'm just going to try your idea without telling him." Fixes the problem...less than two minutes effort.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 10
    When my manager got back from vacation last week, he called me over to his desk. He had just gotten the bill from the contracting firm. He seemed I. I had billed for three extra 8 hour days. Him: "I just have one question: where did you sleep?"
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 11
    "On the couch in the waiting room." Him: "OK. Thanks." Earlier today, my manager came over with an envelope and when he handed it to me he said "I'd tell you to thank [substitute manager] and [server group manager] for this but since it came out of their budgets, maybe best not to. Don't spend it all in one place."
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 12
    Check was for my regular pay plus, um, almost $18,000. My manager socked their budgets for time and a half from the end of business of Friday to open of business on Tuesday.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 13
    When I told him later that I felt bad, he said: "You shouldn't, you taught them a very valuable lesson in server technology and business management that they obviously missed." Did I mention my boss used to be a programmer himself?
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 14
    Edit: Gee, so this is transitory, temporary, low-level Reddit quasi- fame! ;-) I figure I'd get a few comments at most, really I just didn't know who to tell besides my mom and all she kept saying was "good for you, honey!" Weird week all around. To wrap up my couple minutes of quasi-fame and week of self-indulgence, here's the update:
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 15
    My boss called me last night to say that his boss' boss would like to have lunch with me. I didn't think she knew my name but it's not really about my long weekend...that just reminded her I exist. :-/ In any case, they've asked me to think seriously about coming on staff and they want me to create a position for myself.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 16
    They've proposed coming on staff before but the create-a-job thing is new. Mostly I've resisted because the idea of managing others - and becoming one of them makes my skin crawl. My manager said they've been talking about it for a while. News to me. So, that happened.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 17
    Also, apparently the "bonus" was my boss' idea but his boss and his boss' boss signed off on it because they didn't think it was fair and because it was a way of rewarding me for "everything I've done" (been here 5 years.) It's not the first favor they've done for me
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 18
    either. Two years ago, they were told to cut consultants and they classified me as "essential" (I'm really not, they just seem to like me) to keep me around until they could figure out how to keep me. So, anyway, I'm a bit more comfortable with how things went down.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 19
    I wasn't really expecting advice from everyone but it did get me thinking and just to wrap up this horrifically self-indulgent story, I decided to start a "potential future offspring" investment account. My parents did a lot for me and if I have kids one day, I'd like for them to feel lucky in this world. If I never wind up having kids, I'll gladly help someone else's kids feel a little lucky. It's not millions of dollars but it's enough of an unexpected windfall to start saving for that off rig
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 20
    Lastly (and I was planning to do this anyway, now I can do just a bit more), once the taxes are figured out, I figure I'll give a generous but not crazy donation to hurricane relief in P.R. bc it'll make me feel better about how fortunate I am generally and bc they're freaking Americans for God's sake (...and not trying for applause or sainthood. In fact, I have given much less to charity than I could...and I'm superstitious enough to feel like after this week, I really have to avoid tempting th
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 21
    Thanks for sharing my weird week with me, Reddit. :-) TL;DR: Was told to spend my weekend in the office arguing with an uncooperative manager. Made $18k courtesy of my l-off, ex- programmer boss.
    via u/erikestradaslada
  • 22
    videli Tee Shoutout to your amazing boss though. Made sure you were paid for your hard work and supports you. Sorry you had to be out through that but for that paycheck, I might give up my weekend too hahaha.
    via u/videli
  • 23
    Huggy Monster69 What did you spend it on? 425 Reply Share erikestradaslada OP. Haven't spent it. Haven't even thought about it. Still in a bit of shock, actually.
    via u/Huggy Monster69
  • 24
    ThePixelCoder Did I mention my boss used to be a programmer himself? I felt like he must have been a programmer himself. He probably experienced himself way too much. like that
    via u/ThePixelCoder
  • 25
    fermatagirl Just because it was a two minute fix doesn't mean you didn't work the whole long weekend. You slept on the couch for God's sake! You earned that overtime pay, all of it.
    via u/fermatagirl

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bank boss workplace-stories jobs job malicious compliance payday bosses work coworkers malicious-compliance-reddit couch problem pay workplace weekend paycheck night malicious compliance reddit sleeping money
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