Boss demands employee stop taking advantage of their flexible hours and end workdays at exactly 4 pm, then takes it back after realizing the effects on company output: ‘He admitted he was wrong’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Aug 11, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

This employee did not expect to hear the words 'you were right, I was wrong' coming out of their boss's mouth, but that is exactly what happened in the story below.

Anyone with decent common sense would understand why this employee decided to work smarter with their work hours–on days with more work, they would stay an extra 15 minutes to finish everything up, and on days with less work, they would take off those extra 15 minutes and leave early. This way, the work gets done, no one is paid overtime, and everyone is happy.

Well, everyone except the boss, who decided he didn't like it when his employee 'takes advantage' of their flexible hours and demanded they leave work every day at 4 pm, no exceptions. So when this new policy inevitably caused the work output to reduce, the boss had to face his mistakes.

Luckily, he did so with respect and maturity…

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10540551168
    via MART PRODUCTION

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

  • 02

    No more taking advantage of flexible hours your day ends att 4:00 PM from now on!

    This happened a long time ago, about 13 to 15 years ago. I had just started a job at a government agency, where I was responsible for a big fleet of cars.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 03
    My duties included driving the vehicles to various places like repair shops, tire companies, glass repair shops, and inspection centers. I also performed simple repairs myself, like replacing some light bulbs (not all).
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 04
    In addition to all of that, I hand-washed and cleaned every car, both inside and out, refilled the windshield washer fluid, and made sure all the required items were in each car.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 05
    Washing a car inside and out, checking the fluids, and making sure all the necessary equipment was present took a minimum of 45 minutes and a maximum of about an hour.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 06
    About a month into the job, my boss decided I was taking too much advantage of my flexible working hours and told me that I had to stop working precisely at 4:00 PM.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 07
    So I decided to follow my boss's rule to the letter. As the days went on, and if it was after 3:15 PM, I didn't think I had enough time to start washing and fixing another car.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 08
    So instead, I did other small tasks like sweeping the floor or restocking the supply room. After a few weeks of this, my boss noticed that fewer cars had been cleaned and fixed in total.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 10540551936
    via Nejron

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

  • 10
    So he called me into a meeting to ask why. That's when I brought up his policy that I had to leave at exactly 4:00 PM and that I shouldn't be "taking advantage" of my flexible hours.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 11
    The boss suddenly realized why I had been "taking advantage" of the flexible hours before-I was simply working smart. Some days, I would go home a little earlier after a car was finished, and on other days, I needed an extra 5 to 20 minutes to complete a car.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 12
    It wasn't a daily issue, but it happened often enough that the boss's new policy created a problem. So After the boss had been thinking for a moment, he said that we should go back to the way I was working before.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 13
    He apologized for his poor policy and admitted that he was wrong. I ended up staying at that job for about two more years, and we got along well for that entire time.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 14
    Travelling Beard A rare win...a boss who realized they goofed and didn't take it out on you.
    via TravellingBeard
  • 15
    Overall-Tailor8949 That boss was a REAL Unicorn!
    via Overall-Tailor8949
  • 16
    My2Cents_503 This can't be true. A boss admitting they were wrong and apologizing? Not in my experience anyway. /s
    via My2Cents_503
  • 17
    my-reddit-saga OP You should have seen his wife—she had zero tolerance for making life easier for workers. She worked for a cleaning company but came to our workplace for lunch almost every day.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 18
    One day, I told my boss, "I could take some extra time off in the summer (without pay) when things are a little slower." His wife, who was sitting beside him, immediately said, "If I were the boss and anyone said that, I'd fire them." My boss said nothing, the silence said it all, and I never mentioned it again.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 19
    TeachlikeaHawk You couldn't have paused where you were? That strikes me as a pretty simple solution to a problem you created.
    via TeachlikeaHawk
  • 20
    my-reddit-saga OP Just to clarify it was police cars (I know I didn't mention that before). So sloppy work, like not making a car 100% ready, especially failing to check for missing items after it had been out, could actually put lives at risk. Missing essential equipment could mean the difference between life and death, so it was extremely important. A car was either ready or not for a new shift.
    via my-reddit-saga
  • 21
    crank1000 I don't understand. Were you clocking overtime for the days you stayed late? If so, then it makes sense to call you out. If not, why would he care if you stayed late?
    via crank1000
  • 22
    my-reddit-saga OP No overtime just flexible hours
    via my-reddit-saga

  • How would your boss react to something like that? Would they own up to their mistake, or find a way to blame it on you?

    If your answer is the former, consider holding on to your job for as long as you can, because that is a rare unicorn. If it's the latter, maybe brush up your resume when you get the chance…

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boss workplace-stories employee manager job malicious compliance tales-from-the-workplace reddit story overworked-employees workplace overtime Reddit company funny
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