‘He wouldn't take no for an answer': Employee refuses to attend training that was scheduled on his time off, boss fires him in response

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Mar 6, 2024 10:00 AM EST

One of the biggest red flags an employer could have is being disrespectful of their employees' time off. When an employee takes time off, it usually signifies that they could not work at that time, and have other matters to attend to. If an employer disregards that time and insists their employees would accommodate the work schedule needs no matter what, then something is extremely off.

The employee in this Reddit story was dealing with the same problem with his boss. The employee was constantly being forced to change his time off for the benefit of the boss until it reached the final straw. OP (original poster) had a weekend off scheduled for months but was told a few weeks before that a mandatory training session was scheduled on the same weekend. OP, who had enough of having to change his plans because of his boss's inability to plan ahead, refused to attend the training. That resulted in the boss's decision to fire OP on the spot.

Scroll down to read the full story. When you are done, click here for another story of an employee who got fired by a manager who wanted to take down the company.

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  • 01
    0 "He wouldn't take no for an answer"
    via Canva
  • 02
    My Entitled Boss "Laid Me off" For Refusing to Come In On My Weekend Off.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 03
    I've been in retail since 2009. And my now last job, I was there since 2014. I won't go into huge details about about the work environment. A lot of that can be seen on my profile of other job posts.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 04
    But to summarize, in the whole time I was there my Boss, despite always saying family time is important, he would always sw over my personal time off. When I worked directly under him, a lot of times he would cancel my days off
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 05
    because he was taking a trip somewhere. Couple with that, and childish and immature coworkers who threw tantrums and gave silent treatments, I was at the end of my rope.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 06
    My job mostly consisted of delivering building material. I had a certain certificate to operate a certain type of delivery truck. The certification was going to expire at the end of the year.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 07
    About a week or so into January, HR came to do a review with me. During the review, they mentioned they are holding a course to revalidate the certification for everyone in the company in two weeks. They said "It's on your weekend off,
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 08
    but are you able to attend?" I looked at my calendar and said I had plans booked that day, so it doesn't work to my schedule. My company wanted to get everyone done at once, that way they save money on group training.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 09
    HR just said "See what you can do to attend." And I said that the plans were set in stone, and things were left at that. About a week before the course, HR emailed again, saying this course is critical for my job, so to try and attend. I
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 10
    replied it doesn't work for my schedule. That I'd be happy to do it any other day, but this is going on during my weekend off, where I made plans well in advance, so it doesn't work for my schedule.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 11
    For a few days, there was nothing else. My boss owns a few stores. And one worker from another store came by who was also going to the course. They told me he had been making plans with his fiancé for the last several months for that weekend, but
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 12
    had to cancel them because they suddenly revealed this training course and had to attend. He wasn't too happy plans he made for months had to be canceled. I said nothing to him, figured it was his choice if he choose to do that.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 13
    Then suddenly my boss began phoning me two days before the course. I recorded the conversation. Maybe in the future I'll upload it, but for now, I'll just transcribe what was said. AB will stand for A Boss.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 14
    And just for some context, earlier that week, I got a work truck stuck in the snow, and called a tow truck to pull me out, and paid for it myself. It will be important for what happens next. And this is roughly how it went.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 15
    AB: Hey OP. HR tells me you are unable to attend the training course. OP: That's correct. I unfortunately made plans in advance so I can't attend.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 16
    AB: (After a moment of silence.) I need you to get this training done. OP: I understand that. But I made plans well in advance, that I can't just cancel."
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 17
    AB: Ok. You realize when we notify you two weeks in advance, it doesn't mean it's optional. This is mandatory." At this point, I was starting to get mad.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 18
    OP: I understand that. But I've been planning this weekend since early December. I'll be out a lot of money if I cancel. AB: What are you doing? OP: That is a private matter. I can't discuss that.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 19
    AB: (After a moment of silence) OP, how much is that towing bill costing me? OP: I paid for that myself because that was my sew up. AB (Silent again for a few seconds) Ok. Then you're gonna have to do this training on your
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 20
    own time and your own money then. The training itself cost only a few hundred dollars, but by this point, I had it with my boss. OP: Well, we will cross that bridge when we get there."
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 21
    AB: (Silent again) This is pretty rich coming from you. OP: Well, I'm sorry. But I received no heads up, no communication this was being planned for that date. (I know there were plans to do the training early December,
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 22
    but never heard anything about it since either September or October. AB: (Silence again) OP. I'm not happy right now. OP: Well, I'm sorry. But I have a life, and I can't just cancel things when I make plans on my day off.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 23
    AB: (Silence again.) Ok. Good enough. Bye. OP: Bye. So for a week, I heard nothing. Continued my job as normal while looking for a new job, because I had it with my boss. 9 years of all this, I had reached my breaking point during that
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 24
    phone call. This boss has always sed me over for my personal time off, and this was the last straw of trying to force me to come in on my scheduled weekend off.. And then one week later, towards the end of the day, HR
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 25
    showed up. They informed me they were "laying me off" due to extremely slow season, with hopes of having me come back in spring. I said nothing, choosing to leave on a high note. But I knew it was really their way of firing me without firing me. That way,
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 26
    they avoid paying severance which would have been in the 10's of thousands of dollars. I estimated between 10 and 40 000. I already looked into it. Unfortunately I have no real way of proving this is
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 27
    retaliation. All their paper work, though I know a lie, say I was laid off for lack of work, etc. The only proof I have is recently, I had to contact the insurance provider for my company to get a letter of experience from them. The agent I spoke with
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 28
    said he recognized my name, saying my now former employer recently removed me from their insurance coverage. Other than this back handed move, I'm glad to be out of there. I was unhappy, stressed,
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 29
    and fed up. I'm using the time to advance my driver's license to have the highest one I can get in my country. If anyone is curious to know what stories in my profile pertain to this company, or this boss, feel free to look, or message me, and I'll tell you which ones they are.
    via u/TylPlas26
  • 30
    Fun_Organization3857. 1 day ago Please see an employment lawyer. I think you can do something about the severance.
    via u/Fun_Organization3857
  • 31
    Battousai124 10 hr. ago "come into work on your day off" "no" "OK then" gets laid off any decent lawyer will have their heads, as this is clear retaliation. Plus OP said they recorded the convo.
    via u/Battousai124

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boss workplace-stories employee fired manager job tales-from-the-workplace reddit story workplace Horrible Bosses Reddit entitled people employment
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