'I am the only woman manager here': Boss gives female employee written reprimand for not working 50-55 hours per week, doesn't hold male coworkers to the same standard

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jan 16, 2025 3:00 PM EST

When you're a salaried worker, the question of working hours becomes a bit more slippery. When you're an hourly worker, you know that whatever time you're putting in, you're getting compensated for, ideally. You know what your time is worth. But while salaried positions are better in a lot of ways (more flexibility, a more consistent paycheck, PTO), that very flexibility can become a bit of an issue in the wrong hands. If you have an employer who is trying to take advantage of you, your schedule can be one of the main ways that power imbalance can play out. 

Everyone's time is precious to them. It's one thing we have a finite amount of, whether or not we'd like to admit it. We all have lives, responsibilities, hobbies, and people we prioritize spending time with, and jobs are the things that we have to structure our lives around. This doesn't mean that the average worker isn't prepared to spend a little extra time at work when it's needed, but only when it's reasonable. 

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  • In this situation, it wasn't reasonable. When the discussion of an office manager's working hours came up, their boss had a different idea of the scope of their job than they did. Is 50-55 hours per week a reasonable expectation for a manager in an office job? Not to most people. And if that's the requirement, it should surely be made clear when you sign on for the job. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10454758656
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    Boss Gives Me A Written Reprimand for Not Working 50-55 Hours Per Week

    A lot to get into here. But I'll start with the basics. I am the office manager at a company. The rest of the office staff reports to me. My boss fired one of them in August, so I had to do her job on top of mine, with no additional pay, until another office staff member returned from leave.
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    Needless to say, working two jobs for two months, was incredibly taxing on me. I was exhausted, and burnt out, and my mental health started to deteriorate in result. I went to my boss and was honest with him about how I was feeling. That I was burnt out, not okay mentally, and needed a break. He asked if I wanted a couple days off, and I said the biggest thing that would help is a little bit of flexibility in my start time. I usually work 7:30-4:30, on salary. He agreed to this.
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    About two weeks later, he came to me and said that he knew he said yes, but that he was now going to take it back because I was coming in too late, and stated that I came in at 9:30. I was regularly coming in at 8:45-9, but there was one day that I got there at 9:30 due to heavy traffic from an accident. It's an office job, so I didn't find it necessary to communicate the one time I came in later than usual, as we're all adults here and this isn't daycare.
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    Fast forward a few weeks, and he has a sit down talk with me about how things are going in the office, and straight up asks me "how many hours are you working a day?" To which I answered, definitely not less than 8, it is usually around 8-9 hours per day. He then said that all "leaders" are required to work 50-55 hours per week per company policy and that
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    he "thought I knew that". I was taken aback because I had never heard this before. So long story short, I had to sign a document labeled a "written warning" that basically wrote me up for making a mistake on a procedure, for coming in "way too late", as well as stating that I will work 50-55 hours per week. My boss had never watched my start or end time
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    before. I came to him vulnerable when I was struggling with my mental health and he said I could come in later, took it back, and then wrote me up for it. And Keep in mind that my salary is based off a 40 hour work week. I never signed anything upon hire stating that I would work that many hours per day, and I wouldn't have accepted the position had I known I had to work that much. Plus my
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    pay rate goes down drastically when I work that much, actually bringing me right to where one of my office assistant's pay rate is at. So it begs the (rhetorical) question, why would I accept all this additional responsibility without sufficient additional pay???
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    I am the only woman manager here, and I decided to ask my colleagues whether or not they were ever told they had to work that many hours or had to sign something saying they would. They are all men, and they all said no, they had never heard that.
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    Then, I find a written document I had received from corporate HR months back, stating that my regular hours were 7:30-4:30. So it was clear to me that my suspicions were right, I was being gas lit because I knew I had never heard 50-55 hours and if that was the case, my set hours would be 10-11 hours per day, not 9.
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    Anyways, it's clear I am being pushed out for several reasons, but this place is insane and I can't believe I have to work 10 hours a day for no additional pay AND i was written up after I was honest with him about needing some help after I did TWO JOBS for them.
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    Other workers were quick to jump in and take the employee's side in this unreasonable situation.

    . MelkorUngoliant 21h ago Your boss s ks. If in the US, find a new job and quit with zero notice. When you no show, be as difficult as possible and blame traffic / emergency. String it on as much as possible and f him over as much as possible. Don't handover anything at all
    via u/truthtortoiseslut
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    UnluckyAssist9416 • 21h ago I would recommend you start documenting things like this. I would also recommend you write you HR for 'clarification' on your new hours and why your male coworkers seem to unaware of this policy.
    via u/UnluckyAssist9416
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    Cheezburger Image 10454758912
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    • Magnahelix 21h ago Should have asked to see that "company policy" in writing, then show him your memo from and ask him to explain. When he starts, cut him off and say you're not really interested in being lied to and your hours are the HR agreed to hours. If he has an issue, say you'd be happy to sit down with HR and figure it out.
    via u/Magnahelix
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    Then just quit or make him fire you. You need to find a new job anyway because this one is all done.
    via u/Magnahelix
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    PMProfessor 21h ago • Find another job, leave without any prior notice and no clean handoff. If managers are supposed to work 50-55 hours per week at this company, then your manager can start doing it himself.
    via u/PMProfessor
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    OkSector 7737 • 20h ago . Actually, this is a classic bait and switch, Breach of Employment Contract. You should find another job, then file a wage and hour claim with your State Labor Dept.
    via u/OkSector7737
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    Once you get a determination from the Labor Dept., it will include all the ways he tried to defraud you of proper pay. You can then use that Labor Determination to sue him to his very last dollar for Breach of Contract, workplace harassment, and deliberate misclassification.
    via u/OkSector7737
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    IwouldpickJeanluc • 20h ago You did not have to sign it. You say, I need to see that in the handbook. I work 8 or 9 hours a day. I'm not signing this.
    via u/IwouldpickJeanluc
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    Carolann0308 • 21h ago Ask for everything in writing. Boss man is probably making things up as he goes along. Work your normal hours, always be on time leave when your shift is over.
    via u/Carolann0308
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    How many direct reports do you have? I find it difficult to believe at a company requiring multiple managers that there's no HR or company handbook
    via u/Carolann0308
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    Vegetable-Fix-4702 • 21h ago Your boss sounds like a sleazy politician.
    via u/Vegetable-Fix-4702
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    LifeRound2 • 20h ago Ask him where in the policy it reads leaders must work 50 hours a week. Then report back to HR.
    via u/LifeRound2
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    voxam72 19h ago Take this sh to a lawyer and/or the DOL. With the other (male) manager's statements you might have a discrimination case. Don't talk to anyone else at work until you see a lawyer.
    via u/voxam72
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    Superspudmonkey • 18h ago If the expectation is 50-55 hours per week then that is more than the contracted 40, we are going to have to look at a change in remuneration. to reflect that boss, otherwise I'll stay at the 40 hours per contract.
    via u/Superspudmonkey

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