Corporate employee refuses to attend a Saturday meeting because it conflicts with his part-time job, supervisor issues a warning: 'This is not okay. No excuse.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Feb 15, 2026 8:00 PM EST

He's not the only one who can't make it.

If your company pays employees hourly, it's a lot harder to get away with not paying overtime. If they have to clock X hours and their work requires them to work more than X hours, it's obviously unethical not to pay them for that time. In fact, you might even have to pay your employees more for making them work overtime. 

If you're working in a salaried position, it's much more difficult to get them to pay for overtime. A great deal of the time, there is nothing in your employment contract that denotes that you're entitled to overtime pay. You could negotiate for it, but that will be much more difficult the more money you make. If you're earning a high salary, your boss might assume overtime pay isn't necessary. 

The best thing employers can do is be honest about their expectations during interviews. They should tell them they expect them to come in at least once a month on weekends. The prospective employee might not like that, but at least they know what they're getting into if they decide to take the job offer. If a company springs weekend work on its employees out of nowhere, the employees have the right to be angry and to fight back. They may not win, but they shouldn't be expected to attend mandatory weekend work functions when that obligation is nowhere written in their employment contract. 

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  • A man sitting in a chair with a laptop
    via volant

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

  • The employee in this story has a valid excuse for missing a Saturday work function. He works a part-time job to supplement his income. The problem is that his full-time job doesn't know about it, and he doesn't want to tell them. He's playing hooky for the meeting, and his supervisor is furious.

  • I refused to go to meeting on the weekend but my supervisor said I'll receive a warning letter for a no-show.

    I have been in this Corporate job (Banking) for over a year now and schedule is set as the standard time.
    via u/polarander
  • They sent an email that we have a quarterly review on the weekend at HQ and I decided not to go for couple of reasons: 1) it's 2 hours away.
    via u/polarander
  • 2) I work another part time job on the weekend and my schedule doesn't conflict. I texted my supervisor that I'm not going.
    via u/polarander
  • Young waiter serving coffee while talking to female guest in a cafe
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • She is a really nice person and we are always on good terms but she got upset that I texted her 2 hours before the meeting.
    via u/polarander
  • I said I'm not around (they don't know that I work another job part time) but then she said that I will receive a warning letter when she called me.
    via u/polarander
  • Young woman calling on cell phone in creative work desk
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • I said that it's illegal to do so because it's officially a weekend. She then said "No, you will receive an email as a warning and this is not ok.
    via u/polarander
  • No excuse." I tried to calm her down and said that if they sent an email, I will deal with it, then she said ok.
    via u/polarander
  • But I was just wondering, it doesn't happen right? It's a multinational company and they follow labor law to the T and I think my boss said that just because she is upset and didn't want to look like half of her team is missing (2 of my team said they won't go) Thanks in advance and please stick to the subject if you have nothing better to say.
    via u/polarander
  • duane11583 Tell them if I go on Saturday I take all of Monday off and I need. A 4 week notice to adjust my schedule to fit this
    via u/duane11583
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply Awesome! The think is a month ago, we had an annual event which conflicted with my other job because it was on Saturday and it was such a pain to manage the schedule.
    via u/polarander
  • Zahrad70 Are you salaried? Because in many places, if you are, that whole "40 hour work week" is less rigid than you might think.
    via u/Zahrad70
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply I am. I am full time employee with full employment benefits.
    via u/polarander
  • Quadling Mind you, did you get the notification that there was a meeting like a month in advance? And then you only told her two hours before that you weren't gonna be there. Or did they tell you on Friday and you told them Saturday morning? If you had gotten the notice a month before I'm just making this time up, then it would've been nice to give them notice well in advance. But if they only told you the day before or the week before, then that's ridiculous of them. When you get the warning, e
    via u/Quadling
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply They emailed us on Monday and I asked my supervisor for couple of days off for personal plans and she said "you can only take one day off" and then I told her I wanted two days because it means I will have to push everything on the weekend and hinting clearly it would conflict with the Saturday meeting thing. So my text earlier was just a reminder because I felt she missed on that info.
    via u/polarander
  • TinyEmergencyCake Did you get paid for the event
    via u/TinyEmergencyCake
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply With a gift, Open buffet style, and a promotion. Does that count?
    via u/polarander
  • mangosteentx You planned to go but got the stomach flu earlier and can't make the meeting. You just didn't want to elaborate an embarrassing issue.
    via u/mangosteentx
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply That was my excuse a year ago and no one batted an eye. (It was with a different supervisor)
    via u/polarander
  • KL_boy Really depends on the contract as there could be clauses that say you have to work weekends and what are the compensations for it. If there is not, write to HR on the issue, clearly pointing out that you are working with young war orphans with missing limbs and blind guide dogs at part of your church program and you could not attend. Then ask HR what is the legal compensation plan for weekend work, and ask them where it is in the contract. Only when you get a response from HR, do you CC y
    via u/KL_boy
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply I like that church service on the weekend. Thanks!
    via u/polarander
  • cannycandelabra Unpopular opinion: Just to address your main point, there is nothing illegal about asking someone to work on Saturday. (At least in the US) This is not a matter of labor law. This is a matter of your supervisor's embarrassment and your undeclared part time job.
    via u/cannycandelabra
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply I meant if they insist that I come and punish me for it. Thank you!
    via u/polarander
  • 4mystuff How long before the weekend did they announce the meeting? Is there a reason you waited until two hours before the meeting time to tell them?
    via u/4mystuff
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply It was a confirmation
    via u/polarander
  • Jerry RiceOfOhio2 I'd put the letter on my cube wall, maybe frame it
    via u/Jerry RiceOfOhio2
  • polarander Original Poster's Reply Hahahaha I think it would be a nice contrast to my promotion certificates on the wall.
    via u/polarander

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salary warning corporate saturday employee part time job meeting 9 to 5 supervisor
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