'I stopped coming in early': Frustrated phlebotomist sticks to normal work hours to spite toxic boss after he took entitled coworker's side

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 3, 2024 8:00 AM EDT

People who go above and beyond at work often have a lightbulb moment when they realize they are being taken for granted. Unless that extra work has manifested itself in a promotion, a raise, or some kind of validation that meets the employee's desires, these workers do not deserve to give so much of themselves over to their jobs. 

Here, we have a phlebotomist who routinely came into work 15 minutes early until their entitled coworker started taking advantage of this. Essentially, the coworker asked this Redditor to answer their pager during this time, essentially requesting for them to do her job while she was on her way to the hospital. When the Redditor brought this to the attention of their boss, the boss sided with the coworker! 

That's when the phlebotomist had her lightbulb moment and decided those 15 minutes were simply not worth it. Keep scrolling below for the full malicious compliance. For more, check out this post about a boss who called out his coworker's lack of professionalism. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10368718336
    via Louis Reed
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    Boss says I can't come in early to set up my cart. So I come in right at clock in. Coworker who leaves early gets mad at me
    via WitchyWolf94
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    TLDR: I used to go in early, coworker tried to use me, I told her no, boss took her side, so I stopped coming in early.
    via WitchyWolf94
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    So this happened back in 2015 through 2016. I (now 28F) was working as a phlebotomist in a local hospital and I worked first shift, which was about 3 am to 3
    via WitchyWolf94
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    pm. I loved to come in about 10 to 15 minutes early and just set up my cart. Nothing fancy, just metal wired shelving types and we had our own personal phlebotomist trays that we put in the top section of the cart. I didn't always restock
    via WitchyWolf94
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    my tray before leaving my shift, so I'd typically come in early to organize it and get my metal cart ready. (It usually took me maybe 5 minutes to put my tray on a cart and put the handful of tubes I needed back in place, then I'd spend the rest of my time waking up in the break room with coffee)
    via WitchyWolf94
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    Well, one woman (can't remember her age) who came in to work a few months after I started and I had issues. I found her lazy and ro. Examples: she would come in and snap at people when they tried to help her. She would take a book with her during morning rush (which was 3a - 6/7a) and sit
    via WitchyWolf94
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    on the floor to read and not come back to the lab to help after collecting her labs. She would hang out during the nurses celebrations and not come back for hours at a time. She wouldn't clock in until the last second and then she'd clock out the earliest minute
    via WitchyWolf94
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    she could. When it was time to start the morning rush, she'd get mad if someone took the stack of labs she wanted and she'd go demanding them. She and I worked the same overnight shift, but I got tired of her attitude and switched shifts.
    via WitchyWolf94
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    Well, like I said, I liked to come early and set up my cart before I clocked in. And she figured this out quickly, so she would try to hand me the stroke or trauma pager
    via WitchyWolf94
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    (something that needed to be handed to the next phlebotomist who was scheduled to take it that shift, but she'd try to give me hers even if I wasn't scheduled for that one), but I refused, saying "I'm not clocked in yet". So, she just left it on my cart a few times without telling me, which lead to it going off for a call to the ER and I had to clock in early and when I saw her
    via WitchyWolf94
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    in the lab again, I told her to never do that again, the conversation got heated, which lead to a meeting with me, the coworker, and our supervisor. Our supervisor took her side and said "Just take it and if it goes off, you clock in and then I will adjust the clock in on the computer", saying she'd shorten my time on the clock.
    via WitchyWolf94
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    So I said fine. I set my alarm for later in the mornings and I started coming in the last minute I could to clock in at 2:59 am. Yes, it made me start my rush a little later, but the look on my coworkers face
    via WitchyWolf94
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    when she saw me later (right before she was to clock out) as she was trying to hand me a pager I wasn't scheduled to have and I already had the one I was supposed to, was priceless. She complained to the supervisor, who tried to talk to me, but I said "Well I'm not supposed to be here until 3, so that's when I get here and clock in now. I don't want my hours
    via WitchyWolf94
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    messed up". She didn't even try to argue. The coworker was very upset. She even screamed through the lab, demanding someone take her pager so she could go home. It was still 20 minutes until her shift was done.
    via WitchyWolf94
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    CMDRissue +1. It always blows my mind people like this don't get told to get f often more
    via WitchyWolf94
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    TheFlyingSheeps The staffing shortages work both ways sadly. We were desperate for phlebotomists so ones like the co-worker are kept until they seriously up
    via WitchyWolf94
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    awalktojericho +2. Well, managers need to learn to step up and manage the workers to make the good workers not leave their jobs. They end up using really bad parenting techniques that are proven NOT TO WORK.
    via WitchyWolf94
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    Sapphyre2222 I'd be super disappointed in your supervisor for trying to placate her just because she is likely emotionally draining to manage.
    via WitchyWolf94
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    jfinnswake It's always surprising to me how unprofessional people can be in medicine. I had a shift last week where a paramedic who doesn't normally work our shift felt the need to lecture everyone on their history of PTSD and traumas. Blows my mind. how people can act like that.
    via WitchyWolf94

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