Woman turns table on boss by refusing to work weekends despite pressure from him and coworkers: 'They really hyped up the work life balance'

Author image for Ely Bulnes
Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Oct 11, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

The term work-life balance has lost all of its meaning as of late. Companies love throwing it around like a buzzword while touting their family-like office atmosphere and emphasizing how much they care about their employees. But sometimes the "family" bit just means that you're never really off the clock and that they will not hesitate to call you at any and all hours… just like an annoying uncle. 

One employee found out that her company wasn't too honest during interviews after she accepted a salaried position. They promised reasonable hours and no weekend work, but it didn't take long before her boss started calling her personal phone at all hours. Nights, weekends, holdays – it didn't matter! He expected her to not just take off-the-clock calls, but to literally come into the office. Instead of giving in, she drew a firm line between work and personal time and stuck to it. Now her boss is frustrated and her coworkers are resentful because they never thought that standing up for themselves was an option.

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  • 01

    AITA for telling my boss "no" to working weekends, when my coworkers don't?

    Male coworker stands behind an annoyed female coworker, criticizing her work on a computer
    via Nipon Nuengpanom from Getty Images

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

  • 02
    I got hired for this salaried job where they really hyped up the work life balance and reasonable hours in the job interview. Like
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  • 03
    the way that they never expect people to stay late or work on weekends or holidays.
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  • 04
    That turned out to be . My boss got my personal phone number off my resume from
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  • 05
    when I applied and after not long he was blowing up my phone on nights and weekends asking me to come work.
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  • 06
    Wooden blocks spell out the words WORK and LIFE, a woman balances them on a wooden scale
    via AndreyPopov from Getty Images Pro

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

  • 07
    I'd always not answer then when he'd ask on Monday why I wasn't answering my phone, I'd pull out my work phone like "sorry, are
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  • 08
    you sure you had the right number? I'm not seeing any missed calls" and he'd often say he called my own cell so I'd say that I don't really use it much, I
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  • 09
    leave it home a lot, and when I do check it I've usually got like 40 missed calls and my voicemail is always full so I probably miss
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  • 10
    stuff unless I'm expecting a call at a certain time. And that if he needs to reach me he should try
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  • 11
    my work phone because I'm very careful to follow up on any call to that within 1 business day.
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  • 12
    An phone, notebook, laptop, a pair of glasses, and laptop on a desk
    via Nongnuch Leelaphasuk from Nuchylee

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

  • 13
    He asked me how he could reach me outside of 9 to 5 because he sees I leave my work phone on my desk at night and over the weekend. I said that honestly I'm
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  • 14
    not glued to any phone on the weekend so if he needs me to take a call on the weekend, could he make it a meeting request and
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  • 15
    put it on my calendar, so I know to be available. Or if I know I won't be available to take a call, I can suggest an alternate time to call.
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  • 16
    He said that wasn't really gonna work for him, more often things come up last minute and when he calls people on the weekend it
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  • 17
    wasn't planned. And that he's not calling for a teleconference meeting, he's calling asking people to come in.
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  • They definitely were not honest about their office work culture during the interview, but they really couldn't be. No one in their right mind would agree to this.

  • 18
    I said that on the weekends I usually have commitments that were made one to three weeks out and I'm not often able to cancel a previous commitment
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  • 19
    with under a day notice. So if he needs me in on a weekend it'd be best if he could schedule that three weeks out so that I know not to make conflicting plans.
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  • 20
    A hand holds up a mug that reads Happy Weekend
    via kaipong from Getty Images

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

  • 21
    He said that wasn't possible and I said okay, he could try and reach out and I'd answer the phone if heard it ringing, but I wasn't always on the phone so I might not catch it always
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  • 22
    Anyway, I've gone back to ignoring his calls and my coworkers have gotten kinda frustrated with me saying that coming in on weekends is part of
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  • 23
    the job and that I wasn't pulling my weight. I said that I don't know what job they signed on for but in my job interview I was
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  • 24
    promised regular hours and took my pay based on regular hours so I'm working regular hours.
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  • 25
    My coworkers got frustrated and said that if everyone did what I was doing nothing would get done. I said maybe nothing
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  • 26
    should get done then, if it's coming at the cost of y'all not being home for dinner with the family.
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  • 27
    I don't really think my coworkers see it as an option to say no, so they're angry at me because I'm doing it and they're not comfortable doing it
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  • It's not her fault they never thought to stand up for themselves.

Tags

boss employee Female Empowerment Professional At Work work coworkers relationships workplace Horrible Bosses boundaries girlboss employment
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