'I decided to write him an email and CC his boss': Medical worker stands up for employee break times, commenters urge them to involve HR

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 19, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Would you ever CC your boss's boss on an email? It's a bold move to make! 

This person, u/ShamyJane, was just utterly fed up with their boss's unfair behavior. By the time they wrote him and his boss an email, they must've lost all faith in his abilities to lead. It's a plead from the employee to the boss to please do something to change the working environment! It seems like the original poster only did this out of desperation… and a desire to see him get what he deserved for being so impolite to his workers. 

The boss kept insisting that employees needed to work through their breaks, and not leave their posts unless they had a replacement. However, he also scolded employees for eating in public areas instead of in a break room. He sounds incredibly unpleasant --- who cares if the nurse doing healthcare paperwork eats a banana or a salad as they type away at their computer? (The original poster clarified that although they worked in the medical field, they didn't work one-on-one with patients, because medical personnel probably shouldn't eat while examining patients). It seems like their boss is just on a power trip. And commenters had some interesting advice for this person---I hope they took it to heart! 

Up next, this landlady kept scheduling last-minute apartment visits, until the tenant made her wait a while using a legal loophole. 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10390775808
    via Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash
  • 02
    AITA for CCing my boss's boss? I work for a hospital in a new position and we've had a problem with my supervisor just being terrible at his job. Like so terrible that people he doesn't supervise also hate him.
    via u/ShamyJane
  • 03
    He doesn't reply to emails, gives us vague instructions so that if we get yelled at he can say that he didn't tell us to do whatever we're getting yelled at for and the biggest problem is that he doesn't properly staff the shifts.
    via u/ShamyJane
  • 04
    We are supposed to take 2 fifteen minute breaks and a thirty minute lunch every day, but we're not allowed to leave our positions unattended, so there needs to be at least one person not assigned to a specific position to give us breaks. He doesn't do this. As a result most of us don't get breaks.
    via u/ShamyJane
  • 05
    He recently called out the staff for eating food while not on lunch. This really angered me because the reason we weren't taking lunches is because of his stupid schedule.
    via u/ShamyJane
  • 06
    I decided to write him an email and cc his boss. I asked him what he would like us to do for lunch because there isn't anyone to cover. He sent back a reply without the cc vaguely telling me to have a person at another post cover my lunch but not directly saying it.
    via u/ShamyJane
  • 07
    I replied and cc'd his boss. back in and laid out what specifically he was asking me to do and made him confirm that he wanted me to have one of the posts unattended to give me my breaks and he confirmed and then told me to stop cc'ing his boss.
    via u/ShamyJane
  • 08
    I was talking to one of the other people he supervises and they said it was wrong of me to get his boss involved but I really don't think I would have gotten a reply otherwise. This break problem has been one that he's gotten yelled at for before and I think he'll likely get yelled at again because he hasn't done anything about it.
    via u/ShamyJane
  • 09
    AITA for getting my bosses. boss involved? EDIT: for privacy reasons I won't say what I do, but I will say that I don't work directly with patients.
    via u/ShamyJane
  • 10
    Citychic88 NTA But this also needs to get HR involved
    via u/Citychic88
  • 11
    Pessimistic-Frog Exactly this. I'm in HR ―this is likely breaking the law, if not a collective bargaining agreement. It is also causing massive liability for the hospital.
    via u/Pessimistic-Frog
  • 12
    RollingKatamari NTA-this is exactly what you need to do. If you weren't doing your job, your boss would be contacted. He's not doing his job, so his boss gets notified.
    via u/RollingKatamari
  • 13
    MadGeckoLady NTA he's not giving you breaks you are contractually entitled to. However his boss will almost certainly know he's useless and hasn't bothered doing anything to date. I'd raise a formal grievance with HR, probably the only way action will happen
    via u/MadGeckoLady
  • 14
    MissDoneWithThisShit NTA. I think it's time to go to HR about him. He's breaking the law by not allowing brakes and should be pulled up on it.
    via u/MissDoneWithThisShit
  • 15
    artemis 1860 NTA. What you're doing is covering your , it's what you need to do. But now it's time to involve HR and make a formal complaint about this.
    via u/artemis 1860
  • 16
    8gaugeidiot NTA - definitely stir up with this guy as much as possible. someone this unreliable and uncaring shouldn't have responsibility in a medical field
    via u/8gaugeidiot
  • 17
    BJBillies Baby Keep cc'ing the boss's boss, next involve HR and blind cc everything to your personal email as well just in case.
    via u/BJBillies Baby
  • 18
    Management_sucks NTA I honestly think this is the time for you and your colleagues to undertake malicious compliance. Your breath and lunches are YOURS, TAKE THEM. Let your boss deal with fallout and communicate this all to his boss and HR if you have it.
    via u/Management_sucks
  • 19
    FireEbonyashes NTA, this is a reason why there are different levels of management. You making sure he's doing his job as a supervisor is above your pay grade. His boss is supposed to make sure he does his job. How can he do that if he doesn't have an idea what's going on?
    via u/FireEbonyashes
  • 20
    It's the chain of command, if the first link doesn't work then you go to the second. He just didn't want to get called out on it. You just simply want to do your job and get the breaks you have a right to as an employee.
    via u/FireEbonyashes
  • 21
    aquasaurex NTA Next time use BCC (blind carbon copy. He might be stupid enough to hit the reply button which many times will reply to people on the BCC and the boss will get his stupid reply directly.
    via u/aquasaurex

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boss aita workplace-stories jobs job medicine email bosses work big boss medical workplace
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