Retail worker’s attempt to resign turns into a game of cat and mouse as her boss ignores and keeps calling her in for shifts she’s already quit: ‘I make it clear I’m resigning, not taking leave, she tells me to “let her know when I'm ready to come back”’

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Jul 9, 2025 7:00 PM EDT

Some retail jobs are so desperate to keep warm bodies behind the register that quitting feels more like trying to escape a cult than leaving a minimum-wage gig. The young employee at the center of this unfortunate place of work spent nearly a year juggling arbitrary schedule changes, illegal timecard shenanigans, and a general manager whose favorite hobby is boundary erosion. 

The highlights include being scolded for not showing up to work while literally standing at the register, getting docked for fifteen minutes of labor because it was "too late" to fix, and being told to "be mindful" of a terminal illness, because apparently, passing is only acceptable if it doesn't interfere with store coverage.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement

  • After a series of ignored requests for reasonable morning shifts, the manager’s strategy evolved into scheduling experiments, pushing the limits of sleep deprivation and patience by stacking closing and opening shifts back to back. When the employee finally handed in a resignation, even that simple act was met with a covert operation to keep the news from the general manager, who treats “no” as an opening bid rather than a final answer.

  • entitled boss won’t let me quit

    Esc ! 1 F1 F2 = 2 叮+ F3 F4 C F5 23 £ k Q W E T A CapsLk + N S $ S4 4 € R D Ctrl Fn Alt ☑ F6 F7 % 6 CO 95 & 27 F8 * D F9 미용 F10 ☀- F11 8 9 LL F I QUIT! 0 ܘ܂ *+ F12 P { A. : [ ? / + Alt Gr Ctrl Hom
    via Nick Fewings
  • (TLDR at the bottom) this is at my most recent job, a retail store i won't name just yet. I've been there for somewhere from 10 months to a year or so and there has been a slew of red flags, including but not limited to:
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • calling my cell phone angry and demanding to know where i was and why i wasn't at work when i was right there on the register, refusing to backtrack and add 15 minutes that i worked on to my
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • Cheezburger Image 10527727104
    via lechatnoir

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

  • time card or my next one and saying it was "too late" (illegal), refusing to respect my "No" when they call to ask if i can pick up a shift or stay late and always attempting to undermine and "are you sureeee" me, giving me a warning about an absence
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • where i was out because i had a 101° fever and they delivered this warning while i still had said fever & was still actively fighting the infection that i had been ignoring to come to work, telling me to "be mindful" of my (terminal) illness, ect ect.
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • 13 14 15 20 21 Quit JOB! 27 128 22 23 full moon Earth Day 29 30
    via sinseeho
  • the cherry on the top was when, after four conversations about making changes to my schedule and giving me more morning shifts & telling them exactly when my morning availability starts,
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • they began scheduling me hours outside of my availability. first just one shift, and when i said nothing because i thought it was a one- off, they scheduled me 3 more even further outside of my hours.
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • just to test the waters and see how far they could push my boundaries. at one point they scheduled me to close and then open, leaving less than 8 hours to
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • shower, make dinner, and sleep in between. but the same manager is never closing and then opening.. hmm.
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • i did not feel it was worth a fifth conversation, nor can i continue to keep up with what is expected of me at this job with my current ailments, so i let management know i would be resigning. i told
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • a manager who i really like, and told her i was coming to her because the aforementioned manager (who is the GM) always attempts to undermine my
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • boundaries when i draw them and would try to convince me to stay. she totally understood & even said she wouldn't let this
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • manager know i was resigning until after i had gone home for the night, so that i could avoid that talk with her.
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • the manager in question (the GM) was informed, but did not inform the other managers. i received multiple calls from different people over the coming days after my last day, asking if i would be in for my shift. two nights ago,
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • the GM calls me at dinner time and i miss the call. she texts me that she is "checking in and wants to make sure im okay". i was skeptical and decided i would respond in the morning.
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • i wake up to a text from another manager who was opening, asking if i would be in for my shift! i inform her that i had already let her colleague know
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • when my last day was and it has passed. i then realize my GM did not give a rats ass if i was okay, and was certainly calling to try and convince me to work that
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • shift. she didn't inform her colleague that i wouldn't be in because she thought she had an opportunity to change my mind....
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • i call the GM back later that day, and she does start out by asking if im okay and saying she regrets that im going through this. she, after I was very clear about
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • resigning, asks if i want the medical leave paperwork or if i am stepping away. i tell her that im stepping away to attend to my own health right now. she
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • responds by telling me that she will check in occasionally and to "just let her know when im ready to come back"
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • i thought my head was gonna blow. I know that she knows what she's doing and it wasn't worth hashing out on the phone and getting my bl d pressure up, so I simply said "okay”, knowing that she will never receive that call from me. the absolute nerve.
    via SwordfishPast8963

  • The final-final-with-file straw comes with a barrage of calls and texts from managers who never got the memo, and the GM herself, who tries to lure the employee back under the guise of concern.

  • TLDR: boundary pushing GM refuses to acknowledge hours of availability or respect "No" about coming in when not scheduled or staying late. does not inform other managers when i resign (so i receive multiple calls asking if i'm coming in to work, while i am
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • bouncing back and forth from home to Dr trying to heal an internal infection i've been ignoring to come to work- which is the whole reason i'm leaving. spent 27 days with a fever and only felt safe to call out of one shift) and calls me under the
    via SwordfishPast8963
  • guise of seeing if i'm okay, just to check if i can work one last shift. i make it clear i am resigning and not taking leave and she tells me to "let her know when im ready to come back" instead of respecting what i said.
    via SwordfishPast8963

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

Tags

management boss workplace-stories hr manager bosses work PTO managers supervisor workplace Horrible Bosses work-life balance
Scroll Down For The Next Article