Boss asks employee to stay late on a Friday when it's already 4pm, the employee tells them they can't because they already have plans, boss says they're not a "team player": 'I've been working here for 8 months and I always stay late when needed'

Working hours are for work and work only; something your boss will have no problem reminding you of anytime they think you've strayed from your direct role. You'd think, then, by transitive property, that your personal time would be for you and you alone, but, as it turns out, your boss thinks that's their time too… when it suits them.

They are, of course, free to ask you if you'd like to stay late to work some overtime. Chances are that most of us would be quite happy to do so often. But when they're asking you to stay late on a Friday afternoon when it's already 4 pm, they're really pushing their luck. From there, they don't really have anyone to blame but themselves for the fact that they've landed themself in a bit of a bind. They are, theoretically, paid more than you are to deal with exactly this kind of thing. Especially when you "always" go out of your way to stay late otherwise, and in this one instance, were unable to, it becomes kind of insane for your boss to be upset about that and start ranting passively aggressively about how some people aren't "team players." 

It's always good to be flexible and help out where you can. But by repeatedly allowing yourself to be available to your boss at a moment's notice: staying late, working through lunch breaks, and working unreported hours on weekends, you've effectively enabled your employer to get away with unpreparedness and understaffing. The first time you do something for someone, it's a favor, but before long, it becomes an expectation.

You often see this in retail, where rather than hiring enough staff to deal with surges in foot traffic, they rely on staff skipping their breaks to help the horde of customers and then expect them to stay late too to clean up, rather than staffing the store at an appropriate level from the outset. But by allowing yourself to be available and being a team player like this 

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workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employee employment-discussion job work employees overworked-employees workplace Horrible Bosses employment in the workplace
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