Boss gets angry at employee making $45K working 40 hours a week for getting a 2nd job on the weekends: 'He actually said I should be using my weekends to think about how to add more value to the team'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Sep 20, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

It's a sad reality that many people struggle to support themselves on a single full-time job's salary. Some people take on extra work on nights or weekends to pay off debt or save aggressively for a house. However, many workers with two or three jobs do so because they need the extra income to get by. If one person at a company has two jobs, that's not the most enormous red flag in the world. If most of the employees at a company have two jobs, you know that they are underpaying the heck out of people. 

If your company is underpaying employees, you can't really get mad at them for taking other work unless they signed an exclusivity contract. The best way to get your employees' undivided attention is to give them more moola, and a lot of companies aren't willing to do that. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

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  • The dude in this story works on weekends because he's only making $45K a year. When his boss found out, he got upset, saying that he should be spending his weekends thinking about ways to help their company instead of working for another company.

  • Man wearing brown blazer
    via Brent Payne

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

  • Boss is upset that I have a second job

    Yesterday my boss calls me into his office. Apparently someone saw me making deliveries and told him about it. He starts going off about "loyalty" and how having another job shows I'm "not committed to the company." Like dude, you pay me $45k a year in a city where studios cost $1800/month. What did you expect?
    via u/bmaeder2020
  • He actually said I should be using my weekends to "think about how to add more value to the team" instead of working elsewhere. The audacity is unreal. I told him my contract says 40 hours M-F and what I do on weekends is my business. He didn't like that response.
    via u/bmaeder2020
  • Young man with pensive face thinking of some idea for business isolated on gray background
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • Now he's being weird about everything. Making comments about my "divided attention" and questioning if I'm "really present" during meetings. It's so obvious he's building a case to write me up or something.
    via u/bmaeder2020
  • Person using macbook pro
    via Glenn Carstens-Peters

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

  • feudal_ferret I once had a boss tell me 'its not about how much you earn, its about how comitted you are'. In front of the whole team. Told him if thats the case and we're both comitted, we should switch salaries. He did not like my proposal...
    via u/feudal_ferret
  • dingbat667 They want total dedication but won't pay for it. Your contract says 40 hours, so your time is yours after that. If they want more loyalty, they should try paying rent-covering wages first.
    via u/dingbat667
  • Frankie_T9000 40 hours is 40 hours no matter how much they pay you. F they own you. these stupid employers who think
    via u/Frankie_T9000
  • TheBalzy Own you for...$45,000/year...in 2025. That was an okay salary...20 years ago. Not today.
    via u/TheBalzy
  • Riskar "You want loyalty, buy a dog" -Marc Bergevin, ex gm for the Montreal Canadiens
    via u/Riskar
  • EatingBuddha3 In the aughts, I had a boss at a retail job refer to my education and expertise when asking me to do something that I was a) quite qualified to do but b) very much his job/role. I said, "George, I'm sorry, but that comes with the $20/hour package and you only bought the $9/hour package. I'll remind you, for $9/hour I will probably show up, I'll probably stay the whole shift, I might not be dronk, and I'll spend just enough time looking busy that you'll probably get your money's wor
    via u/EatingBuddha3
  • productivity? That's the $12/hour package. You want me to "care" a little and be sure to be efficient and follow policies and not call off, that kind of stuff? That's the $15/hour package. For $17/hour, you might get me to train one of the newbs and not trash talk you too bad. And for $20/hour I will use my degree and specialized knowledge to support one of your customers...occasionally. I'm not even sure YOU get the $25/hour package, but I wouldn't do half of what you do for less than the $35/h
    via u/EatingBuddha3
  • TheFailSnail Tell him that he should pay you more, so you can afford to not take a second job. See how he responds to that.
    via u/TheFailSnail
  • bmaeder2020 OP I actually brought that up during our conversation. Asked him straight up if he'd rather pay me enough so I don't need the second job. He got all flustered and started mumbling about "budget constraints" and how "that's not how compensation works." Then pivoted back to the loyalty lecture. Really showed his true colors there.
    via u/bmaeder2020
  • Ediwir Sounds like he's looking for a new employee and you're looking for a new primary job. I recommend you get there first.
    via u/Ediwir
  • ghanima "that's not how compensation works." Uh, what? That's exactly how compensation works. You want people to not take a second job? Pay them enough that they don't need to. End of story.
    via u/ghanima
  • Appropriate-Soft-188 Report him to his boss for wasting so much of the company's time and energy by power tripping and trying to control employees' outside life instead of focusing on doing the job he was hired to do
    via u/Appropriate-Soft-188
  • bmaeder2020 OP he's literally wasting company resources obsessing over my personal life instead of managing actual work stuff. Might be worth a conversation with his supervisor about how he's spending his time these days.
    via u/bmaeder2020
  • Neon_Owl_333 Can you claim overtime for weekend thinking time.
    via u/Neon_Owl_333
  • JARDIS Sounds like his attention is more divided about your weekends than your attention is. Maybe he needs to focus on his job more?
    via u/JARDIS
  • TallBlkman44 I applied to a job, and was asked if I had a second job. When I was asked in the interview would I give it up. I said No. They said it a requirement, if need for longer hours on weekends, would you give it up.. I said No. Then I told them, why would I give up my part time job I like and been with for a long time. For a job that asking me to give it up, and you might hire me then fire me or I just don't like it. I pass!! They was pred.. lol
    via u/TallBlkman44
  • Ok-Scallion-3415 Should have pointed out their lack of loyalty when they fired you. Companies like to harp on "loyalty" but mean we should be loyal to them, not the other way around.
    via u/Ok-Scallion-3415
  • zaleli Decades ago, I got fired from my job because I was looking for another job in addition. I worked part time in a dr office that could not offer full time, there was a consistent schedule that I could neatly fit another schedule with. No logical clue this could be an issue for anyone but, yeah, she felt it was a loyalty issue. Yeah you idiot, it's loyalty to feeding and housing my kids...
    via u/zaleli
  • RanisTheSlayer Hi, HR professional here. Document every interaction you have with this person. If he takes action on you for this, send all of your receipts to HR and claim retaliation. As long as you can demonstrate your performance hasn't been affected by your side gig he's just biased and discriminating. Boomer energy nonsense.
    via u/RanisTheSlayer

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management salary boss workplace-stories jobs part time manager job bad jobs bosses work working workplace bad bosses bad job full time money
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