'At 5:00pm, I am leaving': Manager assigns "urgent" task 4:50pm to be completed by end of day, employee stands his ground

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 2, 2024 4:00 PM EST

No one enjoys getting assigned a new task at work right before the end of the day. The reality of the matter is that most tasks can wait until tomorrow at that point, and if it cannot, then that's on management for holding off on assigning said task for so long.

This story serves as yet another example of how communication within a strict corporate hierarchy can lead to bad business. Here, we have an employee who was asked to complete a task at 4:50 pm that was evidently urgent. This would be frustrating on any given day, but the fact that this happened on the precipice of a long holiday weekend only makes it so much worse. Thankfully, this dude had enough self-confidence to stand his ground and inform his boss that he would not be staying late under any circumstances. That's what you get, management!

For more stories like this, check out this post about how management accused an employee of trying to sabotage the company.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    12/ 93 19/
    via Unsplash+ (Clay Banks)
  • 02
    If a task is so urgent, do not assign it to someone at 4:50 PM if the workday ends at 5 PM.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 03
    I will never understand why some managers pull this nonsense. If it was so freaking urgent, why couldn't this be assigned or notified earlier in the day. I am not staying late because you
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 04
    cannot plan your sh accordingly. You may need it by end of day. But at 5PM. I am leaving and it will be finished tomorrow.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 05
    Don't assign tasks that late in the workday, especially if you know your employees are preoccupied with other tasks to work on.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 06
    "Urgency" is not a substitute for absentmindedness. The same applies for clients who respond to an email you sent earlier in the day at 4:58 PM, and expect an immediate response.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 07
    lunarteamagic • 14h ago . I work for a software company as part of the support team. We have a client that routinely emails
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 08
    us at 4:50 ish and always says that this issue has been going on for days. But suddenly now it is always an emergency.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 09
    It will never make sense to me. Other than they like to feel the power... or control.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 10
    erikleorgav2 • 14h ago. It's like a new role that was forced on me. My workday ends at 3:30pm CST. If a work order shows up at 3:31,
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 11
    I'm not clocking back in to process that. They're clearly perturbed that I'm not working extra/off the clock because the emails keep coming in.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 12
    XR171 13h ago I have a manager that's a workaholic. He'll change my schedule (job site and not working hours usually) after
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 13
    hours. I put Outlook into Quiet Hours from 5PM-7AM. He's asked me a couple times why I don't respond and he's not happy about quiet hours.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 14
    JRago 13h ago . Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 15
    . LurkerInTheDa... 13h ago I had a manager that did this purely as a power play. F those guys.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 16
    . error_accessin... • 12h ago Bad bosses boss badly. I had a bad boss, worked at a university as a sysadmin. He would do exactly this thing. Wait until about 30
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 17
    min before close and start a task that should take weeks. One time he told me he needed our university to have a webmail portal by the end of the day (back when webmail was a brand-new thing).
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 18
    Another time... So how university funding works is, any unspent grant money expires and the rest of it goes back to whomever gave it to you. So you hold
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 19
    on to that money and are stingy with it, then when it's about to expire you blow it all. Often times there are restrictions about what you can purchase.
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 20
    So I'm sitting at my desk, I hear the boss screaming my name across our entire facility. I come in and he's absolutely furious. I mean,
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 21
    on a level I've never seen before, even from this dude who had some pretty serious anger issues. He says, "ERROR! I NEED YOU TO SPEND 40 THOUSAND DOLLARS BY THE END OF
    via CanadianDeathMetal
  • 22
    THE DAY!!!!! AND I WANT A GOOD F PRICE ON WHATEVER IT IS!!!!!" I called my Sun rep (defunct server company) and told them I had 40k to spend and get me a quote by the end of the day that looks like a good deal-- just raise the MSRP to until it looks like a good deal.
    via CanadianDeathMetal

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work Horrible Bosses reddit thread Reddit company toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article