17-year-old student and fast food worker told by boss to find coverage so that they can study for finals, they get their useless brother hired to cover for them: 'My boss went ballistic and sent me a brigade of texts blaming me for costing him money'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jun 26, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

One of the most glorious aspects of working in the retail or service industries is the almost universal expectation that you will find coverage for your shifts should you be sick or otherwise be seeking to take PTO. Not in any other industry will you find this, for good reason too, as it defies logical reasoning.

Organizing the schedule and, you know, managing it is specifically the manager's job, and so you think it would be up to them to handle the responsibility of finding coverage. But the reality is those managers probably aren't being paid much more than their workers, regardless. They also often have very little control over their store's chronically razor-thin staffing levels, as their own superiors try to gaslight them into conceding that they don't need to hire more staff.

However, the staffing levels of the store are low; the only way to prevent workers from calling out or requesting time off is by assigning them an impossible task, such as convincing someone else to come in on their day off without the influence of a manager.

That's what seemed to be happening at this fast food place, except there were clearly other unsavory practices happening here, too. 

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  • 01

    "I'll be fired if I don't find someone to cover my shift?.."

    I worked at a fast food joint when I was in high school. The joint would stop rostering staff after they turned 18 as they would need to be paid more. I was 17 and a half at the time for reference. Management was lame. They'd expect us to find a replacement for missed shifts regardless of how much notice we gave. If we were understaffed, we'd turn away non drive-through orders but it'd be business as normal otherwise.
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 02
    NOW HIRING APPLY IN STORE ONLINE
    via Leo Siu

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 03
    I had my final end of year 12 exams. I did 6 subjects and the exam for each subject was held on different dates in November. I provided 3 months of notice yet was asked to find a replacement the night before my exam or I'd be let go. Now, if an employee ghosted my boss at this point, they'd be let go and my boss would typically find someone else to cover the shift, as he should be doing by default.
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 04
    No problems. I texted my boss that I found a replacement. I sent my deadbeat brother who was unemployed and on welfare for the past 3 years there. My boss went ballistic and sent me a brigade of texts blaming me for costing him money and informing me that I was let go. I read them after my final exam and blocked him.
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 05
    Agit SECURITY php BACKBON node NODE
    via Tim Gouw
  • 06
    CatlessBoyMom They said "someone" they didn't say who.
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 07
    LuminousGrue I never understood this threat. "Find someone to cover your absence or you're fired"? If you get fired the boss still has to find somebody to fill in, only now it's on a permanent basis.
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 08
    AngryRaptor13 Finding shift coverage should be the manager's job... they get paid to manage, so they should manage.
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 09
    ScytheOfAsgard Find someone else to cover your shift? Is that normal for fast food? That is literally a management job that makes no sense. Should have been like "you're promoting me to a manager? How much will my salary be?" Lol
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 10
    jrp55262 I never understood this manager logic: "You HAVE to find coverage or your fired!" "Okay, I guess I'm fired then. NOW how do you plan to cover that shift Einstein?"
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 11
    fɩ youijustwantt I had an employee call me a couple hours ago saying they couldn't come in tomorrow due to a family emergency. My response to him was "Ok." Then I texted a couple of my other staff until I found someone who could do a few hours OT to cover the first part of the shift, and another who could work a half shift. The whole ordeal took me about 10 minutes.
    via SpecialistPublic5503
  • 12
    SerenityPickles My babysitter had a family emergency and was going out of town. My shift was in 2 days and I could not find anyone willing to cover. I was told by my manager if I couldn't find someone to cover my shift I would be considered quit no- show. She wanted me to let her know if I wasn't coming in. Yeah. I did not let her know. I was a bit freaked out about it because I needed that second job. I decided to take my son out for day in the park and cut through an empty overgrown field. Fou
    via SpecialistPublic5503

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