Hotel manager fires employee for refusing to allow a 16-year-old employee to work 15 hours straight: 'The 16-year-old had been working since 7 AM and from 3 PM to 11 PM the night before.'

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Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Dec 10, 2025 11:00 AM EST

Good for them for standing up for a vulnerable you're worker.

When you're a teenager working your first job, you don't always feel like you are in a position to say "no" to people in authority. After all, you spend your whole childhood being told by your teachers, parents, and coaches that you have to do what they say, even if you don't always want to. You might enter a job situation thinking that the same rules apply, and that if you do anything that makes your boss or manager angry, you're going to get in trouble. 

Most employees, regardless of age, don't have a thorough understanding of the law. We don't always know for sure whether our employer's actions are legal, but many of us will give them the benefit of the doubt that they're not violating any labor laws. Child labor laws can be much stricter than adult labor laws and are therefore easier to violate. A higher up might not think twice about asking an adult to work for more than eight hours, but in most states, it's illegal for a kid to work more than eight hours a day, even on weekends.

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  • Pretty young professional chamber maid putting white clean pillows while bending over bed in hotel room
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • The manager in this story thinks he can get away with asking a 16-year-old employee to work 15 hours straight. How did he think he could get away with this? Even the most careless factory from the 1910s knows that asking a kid to work for 15 hours a day is wrong!

  • I just got fired because I told my boss he couldn’t make a 16-year-old work 15 hours straight in location Colorado

    My location is USA Colorado. Was wondering if there's anything legally I can do with this, I work at a comfort Inn in Colorado or should say worked, I do housekeeping and front desk one of the front desk people called in sick and I picked up the shift, because the manager was out of town and we could not get a hold of him. An hour before I go to
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • Mature businessman with smartphone in a hotel corridor handsome man standing in a hotel corridor making a phone call
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • cover the other persons shift, the manager calls me and tells me the 16-year-old that had been working since seven that morning and from 3pm to 11pm the night before was just gonna work 15 hours straight because he didn't wanna give me overtime. The 16- year-old didn't wanna work that long and I told the manager that
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • long and I told the manager that if he does not let him go I would call the Colorado Department of labor, and the 16-year-old ended up working 12 hours before I picked him up and took him home and I got fired because he was supposed to work more.
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • Man in yellow shirt standing in front of a table
    via Febrian Zakaria

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

  • Sunshine_coaster Never tell someone you're going to call the authorities on them. Just call the authorities on them. While your boss seems very unethical, him firing you was not illegal.
    via u/Sunshine_coaster
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg Honestly, most the people that work there aren't legal. I was getting paid cash until I started working front desk, as well as housekeeping he already offered me the job back and I said no, i'm kind of worried if I do contact authorities, what will happen to the non-legal workers.
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • Environmental-Sock52 Assisting someone in filing a complaint or filing a complaint on their behalf is one thing. Protected behavior. Arguing with the employer about it and then putting the employee in question in your vehicle mid-shift and driving them home? Not advised.
    via u/Environmental-Sock52
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg It was already the plan for me to drive him home because he doesn't have a car, and honestly, he already offered me my job back. I was just wondering what kind of trouble he could get in for making a 16-year-old work that much
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • billdizzle You got fired for insubordination You should have reported and said nothing. Still should report btw
    via u/billdizzle
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg He already offered me the job back and I said no, i'm kind of afraid to report because most of the housekeepers are there illegally and I don't want them to get in trouble
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • Sunshine_coaster Then why did you say anything at all? Why did you threaten to do something you don't wanna do?
    via u/Sunshine_coaster
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg So he would tell the kid he could go home, and it technically worked. This all just happened last night. I'm still debating calling them. I'm just trying to figure out if any of the other workers will get in trouble for me calling.
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • memberfrombefore Geez, you are really picking and choosing which rules you want to follow.
    via u/memberfrombefore
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg Yep, that's why I was asking the Internet for advice
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • RaskyBukowski Report it. But, savior complex and work at such jobs don't mix at times. The 16 year old should have told him, or reported it as well.
    via u/RaskyBukowski
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg He didn't know he was told by my manager that at 16 he can legally work as much as he needs. And honestly, this place is in a small town but a huge semi travel hub and they just burn employees. I didn't even know the child labor laws in Colorado until yesterday, and the kid is too nice to say no to his boss
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • rabs7sbar You told them you were going to report them. That's how you fucked up... Not for telling them a 15 year old can't work 15 hours. If I were an employer, I would've fired you too. Because now I am aware that I have an employee who has set their sites on trying to get me in trouble. Yes, you were right in this situation. But you went about it the WRONG way. Nobody in their right mind would keep you onboard. What made you think telling them that was ok? Actions, meet consequences. Hopefull
    via u/rabs7sbar
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg He already offered me the job back. He's honestly just a desperate man.
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • Spare-Management2847 Do you know if the 16 year old is emancipated or if they have any paperwork that could make them work as an adult?
    via u/Spare-Management2847
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg Yeah I know him pretty well He's a good kid and no, he still lives with his dad. So he's definitely not allowed to work that much.
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • Brilliant Bus7419 Ask if the person wants help before you talk to anyone else. If the answer is yes, tell them to call the labor board and file a complaint.
    via u/Brilliant_Bus7419
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg Honestly, he just wanted to go home and was dead tired, I sent him all the information he needs to do Legal recourse on his side if he wants
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg
  • Long_Question_6615 Does he pay overtime wages
    via u/Long_Question_6615
  • OP yourmomsahoebagg You have to fight too and nail to get it but yeah
    via u/yourmomsahoebagg

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management getting fired hotel coworker stories teenager toxic-workplace labor working tales from the front desk reddit story night shift employees housekeeping
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