Management tells employees they're no longer allowed to discuss "burnout" in their 1:1s and are then surprised when the employee asks for stress leave: 'I got 7 weeks off and partial pay, and they had to cover my job'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Oct 29, 2025 9:00 PM EDT

You won't find what you aren't looking for, and when you're, instead, burying your head in the sand, the issues you're hiding from will eventually come back to haunt you. Just, instead of something small and manageable, it will be something much more vicious. 

This principle, while incredibly important for our own personal health, applies to business interests, too. And the two go hand in hand when it comes to employee stress and burnout that might come from burning the candle at both ends for too long, or otherwise from understaffing or personal issues. 

In a world where rest is a reward and not a right. We have a tendency to deprive our bodies and our minds of the rest that they rightfully need and deserve, and run ourselves ragged in the name of a promotion that we might never see.

This employee was told to stop discussing burnout in their 1-on-1s and even received a write-up for bringing it up too frequently. Their requests for help were used against them, being cited as reasons for the write-up. 

It's unwise for employers to react to employees' cries for help in this way, for one, it opens the employer up to risk of claims of retaliation and unfair dismissal. For another, well, it doesn't make the burnout, or whatever underlying issue there is, go away, and it will leave it to continue to fester until it becomes an even bigger problem for the organization and business operations.

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  • 01

    "Stop reporting about office burn out? Okay, done"

    My field of work has a high turnover and high burn out rate. As a result, my company promotes transparent conversations with staff members to ensure we are all implementing self care, taking PTO as needed, and asking for managerial support when overwhelmed with tasks.
    via insiderecess
  • 02
    Last year, my work began to suffer. I was struggling losing two close family members suddenly, and was transparent in hopes they would understand why I was withdrawn and had lower productivity. My manager wrote me up as a result of my burn out, citing that I was using our 1:1's
    via insiderecess
  • 03
    inappropriately, causing stress among the team with my grief, and talking about being burnt out too much. The write up included every single 1:1 documentation of when I asked for help with burn out. Management instructed me to stop talking about burn out. No problem.
    via insiderecess
  • 04
    I stopped bringing up burn out, being transparent, and asking support. About 2 months later, I request a 7 week leave of absence; citing extreme burn out and mental health issues. Management was shocked, and angry that I did not tell them I was struggling or burning out. I handed them a copy of my write up and said "The action plan I received stated I could not talk about burn out anymore."
    via insiderecess
  • 05
    Management was scolded for inadvertently creating a hostile work environment where staff couldn't ask for support. I got 7 weeks off and partial pay, and they had to cover my job for that entire time I was out.
    via insiderecess
  • 06
    Contrantier Sweet! I hope that slammed their fragile egos back down where they belonged. Also hope you're doing okay now.
    via insiderecess
  • 07
    Contrantier Sweet! I hope that slammed their fragile egos back down where they belonged. Also hope you're doing okay now.
    via insiderecess
  • 08
    3lm1Ster The first time you said anything about burn out, or losing family members you should have been given information on reaching out to your company's EAP. As a manager, I dont want details. But i do have to have enough compassion and empathy to realize you are struggling and need someone to talk to.
    via insiderecess
  • 09
    Ok-Tomato257 Sounds like the company is scared of you leaving and making a Constructive Dismissal claim against them. Document everything and don't keep your records at work. Best of luck.
    via insiderecess
  • 10
    Ok-Tomato257 Sounds like the company is scared of you leaving and making a Constructive Dismissal claim against them. Document everything and don't keep your records at work. Best of luck.
    via insiderecess
  • 11
    A man buries his head in his hands while seated at his desk
    via Curated Lifestyle For Unsplash+

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

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