Bossy coworker demands employee work unpaid overtime on weekends: '[She] acts like she's my boss'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Mar 11, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

Coworkers can be a lot of things: a compatriot, a confidant, a thorn in your side, a shoulder to cry on, a best friend—even a worst enemy. One thing they certainly aren't ever going to be is your boss—not without a promotion at least. And, still, throughout your working career, you'll come up against many a power-hungry colleague who thinks that they have the authority and experience to order you around. Letting you know what's what and making demands of you…. but, as bossy as this person might be, they're still in no position to order you around. 

Usually, it will be someone from within your own team but occasionally it will also be someone from another department who thinks they're superior to you just because they work in an office instead of a warehouse—or because their uncle works in the same office as the CEO and got them the job. Whatever the wind behind their sail might be, these people are perfectly at ease with blowing on over to you and telling you what to do. 

That's how it was for this worker who shared a story from their workplace. They first posted to mention how their "employer" had requested that they come in on weekends to check the temperature on the company's freezer trucks, ensuring that product was being kept at an appropriate temperature. They were expected to do this without claiming any additional overtime since they only lived a few minutes away from the company's premises. 

After their post started to gain traction they returned with an update longer than the original post itself, sharing how they had discovered that the person who was making the demand was not a manager of the company but just a colleague of theirs who worked in the shipping company's office. This person, they describe, is "extremely condescending" and "a nightmare." They then go on to describe other situations in which this coworker has demanded that they do certain tasks—you can see this along with their original post below. 

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  • 01
    "I told the company CEO about her request."
    via Pickawood
  • 02
    Posted by u/Frankieanime158 9 hours ago Work wants me to come in a few minutes everyday during weekends unpaid UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM! My employer wants me to come to work every single day on days off, unpaid, to check and log the temperature of our freezer truck with product inside of it. I only live a few minutes away, but that still means I have to spend 30 minutes on days off coming to work for free. They don't want to spend money on a wireless transmitter for the temperature, so instead they
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 03
    Yea, I ain't doing that. UPDATE! The person requesting I do this is someone from the office who is extremely condescending and acts like she's my boss. She isn't. I told the company CEO about her request and how I wasn't gonna do it, and she agreed it was ridiculous. A few hours later, another office staff came down with a new remote temperature monitor and was testing it out.
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 04
    Otherwise, this coworker is a nightmare. She works in the office, I work in shipping. She comes down to give us orders to prep and send. This should only take 5 minutes, but she comes down and gossips with her best friend (my coworker in my department), for about 30 minutes. I know it's gossip because she's always whispering an inch from her ear and shadily looking around to see if anyone's
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 05
    listening. Then she goes and smokes in the far back of the building on company time, then goes back upstairs. Anytime I refuse her ridiculous requests, she gaslights me by saying "oh well I guess I'll just have to quit because you can't do your job. You're making my life hard and I can't handle that", but she never actually quits. I can rant for ages about this lady and her incompetence, but I'll stop here.
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 06
    JoePikesbro 9 hr. ago Never do work you're not paid to do. 4.5k Reply Share oolaroux 7 hr. ago . Yup. What happens if you get injured checking the temp? Workman's comp doesn't apply if you're not working. 1.1k Reply Share
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 07
    ImaBldr 8 hr. ago . "Nope, sorry" would be my reply. I own 2 businesses and tell my people that their time is theirs. If I ask them to do something then I pay them for their time. 1.3k Reply Share aussie_nub 7 hr. ago And I imagine your staff are a little more flexible because of it. 296 Reply Share
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 08
    ImaBldr · 7 hr. ago Honestly, they are. When I started my first business I promised myself that I would never ask, or expect, my people to do anything that I didn't want to, or wouldn't do. I encourage flex time, overlapping shifts, 4 day work weeks, etc. For the most part, I let them set up their schedules and responsibilities as a group and try not to dictate anything. Over the last 30 years I've found that the businesses run pretty well that way. 353 Reply Share
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 09
    AppleParasol 8 hr. ago On call occurrence pay of $100 per day as well as hourly OT pay. And boom, all the sudden, it's automatic, they install what they need. ↑ 561 Reply Share
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 10
    Frankieanime158 OP 5 hr. ago Update and more info! The person requesting this is someone who routinely acts like my boss from the office. She is the most useless staff, and I have no idea how she still has a job. Her best friend works in my department (shipping), and when she comes with files for us to tackle, she spends 30-60 minutes whispering gossip in her best
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 11
    friends ear on work time, then goes for a smoke, also on work time, and returns to the office (she should only be here 5 minutes tops). Anyways, the company CEO popped her head in to ask something, so I told her about the request from said staff, and she agreed it was inappropriate and is looking into a wireless transmitter for us. Reply Share 133
    via u/Frankieanime158

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workplace discussion workplace-stories jobs job malicious compliance work workplace workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace coworker coworkers Horrible Bosses terrible coworkers antiwork employment-discussion employment issues
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