'You can kiss your weekend hiking trips goodbye': Manager maliciously decries worker's desire for their weekends ordering them to work 6 days a week

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Apr 25, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

Requiring your workers to work time that they weren't scheduled to work or weren't contracted to work, while sometimes legal, isn't necessarily fair or the right thing to do. Even if the business has needs for additional coverage or is experiencing an emergency period of high load and you did need your workers to work an additional day… it would be best to—no, anyone in their right mind would—approach the subject delicately, respectfully, and tactfully. 

Coming out and declaring to your workers that they should "Kiss their weekend hiking trips goodbye" or anything of that nature would be downright inadvisable… Especially when that comment is intended as a reference to personal information that was shared far earlier in the working relationship.

This manager found themselves in a situation exactly as described above when they were approached by their supervisor advising them that they and their team would be working six days a week going forward. Of course, they were worried about their staff, and they predicted that there would be a hemorrhaging of staffing levels when their workers began leaving due to what they were experiencing from the organization. This, of course, would push even higher workloads onto the remaining team, resulting in a feedback loop that would cripple their team and the organization.

The manager shared their experience with this popular online workplace community, telling of the conversation they had with their supervisor and discussing how disillusioned and worried they were about both the directive and the attitude of the management above them.

See selected screenshots of their original post below, along with the discussion with readers that followed.

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  • 01
    "He wants my team to work six days a week."
    via Redd F
  • 02
    You can kiss your weekends goodbye "You can kiss your weekened hiking trips goodbye" This is what my supervisor told me today. I left my last job and came to this company because i wanted more free time on the weekends. I specifically told my supervisor this three years ago when i was in my hiring interview.
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 03
    I was assured that we only worked weekends once a month at most and that was due to emergencies. Over the past few months i have seen greed continue to take on more and more projects without hiring more helpers. I have voiced my concern months ago, but was told "we will figure it out"
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 04
    I am a lead over about 40 people and mentally i am exhausted. The only thing that gets me through the ever increasing work load is the joy of hiking on the weekends and my boss knows that. This is why today he specifically told me this. He wants my team to work 6 days a week for who knows how long.
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 05
    Im afraid my team will quit when they find out. But the higher ups dont care. They see profits and larger bonuses. We are merely here to increase their profits regardless how it affects our life outside of work Everyone wants to be on my team because i treat them like humans, friends even. I respect my team and let them off when they need to be. But now i must tell them that they will be working every saturday and i cant change that
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 06
    Themodssmelloffarts 11 hr. ago I used to work in a place that was constantly mandating overtime 5 days a week and on the weekends. Our office was unionized. I spent a bit of time dissecting the union contract. Our contract specified the payment rate for voluntary overtime, but not mandated OT.
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 07
    So the next time management tried to blanket wide mandate OT, responded to the management, CCed the union steward, and the entire production floor that our union contract did not specify a salary rate for mandated OT. I asked if they were prepared to negotiate with the union for a mandated rate. I argued that if we
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 08
    volunteer, it should be the agreed upon 1.5x hourly rate, which is what was stated in the contract. But the OT mandates were often short notice that left people scrambling for childcare, transportation, and healthy meals since we were often working well into our dinner time. I argued that the 1.5 rate they offered for
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 09
    mandatory OT ended up costing the employees because the prices they had to pay for extra childcare, and like ubers/taxis to catch a ride home cost way more than what we were being paid for that time. I got called into the directors office to be reprimanded. I let them spout their BS, and simply asked, I'd like my union. representative to be present for this meeting. And just like that mandated OT went away. Sounds like this is the perfect time to unionize your office.
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 10
    JohnniePeters 12 hr. ago • "You can kiss my goodbye" And you walk away into the sunset. 1.1k Reply Share
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 11
    Ok-Hovercraft621 11 hr. ago What is disgusting man you are dealing with. Maybe instead of kissing your weekends goodbye you should kiss that awful job goodbye. He sounds like he was delighted to tell you this and that's disgusting. Maybe the whole team should quit 1.3k Reply Share
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 12
    WiWook 11 hr. ago • 1st. You lead a group of 40. Say 'No', and make sure your team is behind you. You may not have a union, but you can still act collectively. 2nd. if #1 is too much, those Saturdays you work, use them to collectively update resumes, mock interview, and job hunt. No work on work! -- Management: we have them coming in, but productivity hasn't changed. This was a waste... + 412 Reply Share
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 13
    theloslonelyjoe . 11 hr. ago Ultimatums work. We need you to work six days a week. No. This is not what I signed up for. Here is my resignation. Good luck maintaining your profits and you onboard productivity levels as you a new team lead. That usually takes around six months or so for someone to get in the groove of the position. Wish you the best. Ultimately this system depends on the consent of their employees victims to operate. Take away your away their you take away consent and power. 1.0k
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 14
    TheRealCabbageJack 11 hr. ago • I'm assuming you're salary, so what your boss actually said is "we're giving you a roughly 17% pay cut on a per-hour basis." 171 Reply Share
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 15
    AdNew1234 12 hr. ago No. 253 Reply Share
    via u/SimpleWire
  • 16
    • walk_through_this 11 hr. ago If it's once a month, it's not an emergency. It's standard operations. Tell them to hire more people if they want to see work done. Tell them you refuse to let them steal time away from you and your family. Hard 'no'. If they threaten to fire you, it's time to quit. 83 Reply Share • • •
    via u/SimpleWire

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