‘I learned my lesson': 19-year-old night janitor agrees to take on boss's work during summer break, immediately regrets it after discovering they won't get compensated for the extra work

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Aug 18, 2025 7:00 AM EDT

Learning how to say 'no' at work might be the most valuable tool you will ever take away from a professional role. Sure, you might gain experience in your field or make connections with people in the industry, but none of that compares to learning how to stand for yourself and for your rights in the workplace.

Saying 'no' is a tool the 19-year-old in the story below will forever carry with them to any job they will have in the future. Too bad they had to learn that lesson the hard way…

When they agreed to take on some extra work during summer break, they didn't think it would get in the way of their time off. Not only did it completely take away from their vacation, but they also discovered they would not be properly paid for all the extra work they put in. But even that didn't stop this 19-year-old night janitor from agreeing to take over their boss's position while the boss was away, which turned out to be a big mistake…

After everything that happened in this story, this employee will definitely start saying 'no' more often…

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  • 01
    Male Janitor Cleaning Corridor
    via AndreyPopov

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

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    I learned my lesson on saying “No” to my job

    Just a bit of a rant of sorts. I'm 19, and this year I got a job in the local school system as a night custodian for the regular school year (hold onto that).
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    The job is easy enough—just four hours a night picking up trash and cleaning bathrooms. It's simple, and I'm off whenever the kids are off, so I get
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    Christmas break, fall break, summer break, etc. I started at the beginning of the year, and I really didn't hate it. During the summer, the school
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    system gives us part-time workers a decent payout to keep us afloat over break, so I was really looking forward to spending my "summer vacation”
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    relaxing and enjoying some paid free time. This is where it gets annoying...
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    During the first week of summer, I got a call from my boss (the head custodian at my school) asking if I could please come in to help with deep
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    cleaning, waxing floors, and moving heavy furniture. Stupid me said yes, figuring I'd be getting "paid" for it and not minding a week of helping out.
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    One week turned into two... then three. Before I knew it, summer break was almost over and I had spent the entire time working-essentially doing my
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    boss's job-for my very small night custodian pay. Fine. Whatever. I got scraps for busting my all summer, but _ what does it matter now?
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    That was until last week, right before school started. My boss went on vacation and asked me to cover her daily duties. She assured me it would be
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    incredibly simple-mostly sitting around waiting for teachers to ask for help setting up their classrooms. This is where I learned my mistake.
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    Instead of an "easy" week, it turned into a chaotic mess of getting the entire school ready, which relied solely on me—the night custodian-getting paid
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    my same wage to do my boss's much higher-paid job. In just two days (everything needed to be ready for open house on Tuesday), I was tasked with:
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    . • Stripping and re-waxing the entire lunchroom Waxing two full-length hallways Moving more discarded furniture than I could count, with nowhere to store it
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    • Mopping and cleaning the ENTIRE school Cleaning the ENTIRE gymnasium Repainting two hallway bathrooms
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    . • Cleaning the library daily Changing every air filter in the school's ventilation system ...and so, so much more you probably wouldn't believe me if I listed it all.
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    Male Janitor Mopping Floor in Office
    via pixelshot

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

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    The cherry on top? All the work I had to rush through was picked apart this Monday and "had to be redone" by my boss.
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    Sorry if this comes off ranty or poorly written―my brain's still frazzled from all of this. But I've learned my lesson about sacrificing my free time and
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    giving more than I'm paid for. I had a lot of summer plans that I had to cancel because of the hours I volunteered, and I was too nice to say no. I don't mind
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    helping people, but I do mind when my kindness and hard. work are taken advantage of. Advice: If you're hired to be a night sweeper, just be a night sweeper. You're already looked over and underpaid—don't add to it.
    via ClintEastwood1866
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    tidymaze At least you learned this lesson young. There are people my age (40s) and older who still think they'll get a gold star for saying yes all the time.
    via tidymaze
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    Aman_Syndai Your boss knew what she was doing & threw you to the wolves. She knew the "easy" week was normally her worst week of the year so she bounced on vacation & threw you under a bus. F that person.
    via Aman_Syndai
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    asyouwish Boss: "can you...?" You: "I can check my schedule to be sure. What's the task, hours, and pay rate for that out-of-scope work?"
    via asyouwish
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    bopperbopper You have to be paid for every hour You've worked by law.. so if you didn't get paid for hours that you worked, do you need to go to HR and tell them so
    via bopperbopper

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summer break janitor teens boss cleaning workplace-stories school employee manager job tales-from-the-workplace reddit story overworked-employees workplace Reddit company
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